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THE NECESSITY OF LEARNING DOCTRINEHEBREWS 5:11-6:3INTRODUCTION As some of you may remember I went to college at UW-Stevens Point. I went there because I wanted to become a forester. I grew up hunting, fishing and camping with my dad and brothers and fantasized throughout my childhood about living in the wilderness and, in high school, helping to manage and preserve our natural resources. I spent 6 weeks of the summer between my sophomore and junior year in the heart of the north woods of Wisconsin at the Clam Lake Field station as part of the curriculum for becoming a forester. We studied and had hand on opportunities to practice the various skills needed to be a wildlife manager, soil scientist, forester, fisheries biologist, etc. One of the requirements to successfully complete the six-week course was to learn the common and scientific names for 200 species of plants, shrubs and trees and to be able to identify them in the woods. I loved doing this. I had the entire list memorized and could identify every one of the specimens with ease long before we had to take the test. When I got back to campus that fall I regularly used my knowledge to impress a certain young woman named Jane. I learned to identify those plants over thirty years ago. While we were on vacation a couple of weeks ago Jane and I went hiking in a state nature sanctuary. As we walked through the woods I recognized many plants but I only could identify a couple of trees, one or two plants and none of the shrubs. I could recall the scientific names of maybe two trees. You know what? I didn’t care that I didn’t know. I haven’t studied those names or how to identify those plants since I left college. Why is it that I no longer know the names or identity of these 200 plants, shrubs and trees? I don’t know these things any longer because I don’t want to know them. I have no interest in or affection for a vocation in forestry and so I have no need to know these things. I do not passionately study these plants because I have no passion to give my life to managing and/or preserving our forests. There is knowledge that I once valued and that was once valuable to me that I am now indifferent to because the purpose for which I once pursued the knowledge is no longer of interest to me. There are two general principles that we can draw from my experience that applies to everyone. First, everyone pursues knowledge of those things and persons that they value and that are valuable to them. The simplest way to find out what a person values is to find out what they know. I don’t think it is too strong to say that there is a direct correlation between the knowledge that a person has acquired and the value that the person sets upon the subject of that knowledge. Whether it's the teenager who uses the internet to find out all about her favorite band or the man who studies Consumer Report to find out which chain saw is best or the sick person who searches the web to find out about her disease, all of us study and learn about the things we care about. Second, everyone quits pursuing knowledge of things and people when those things and people cease to be valuable to them. The things about which we are ignorant or the things about which we are not currently engaged in learning about are the things for which we have no use, that are not valuable to us. The book of Hebrews is written to a group of Christians who are struggling to believe that Christ and the Christian life is valuable. Through a long period of persecution and the suffering of many kinds of hardships, these people have come to question whether or not it is worth it to be a Christian. They are on the edge of quitting Christianity and this letter is written to show them why being a Christian is infinitely superior to any other option they might pursue. In the midst of this letter of persuasion concerning the superiority of Jesus and his salvation, the author confronts the congregation with the necessity of growing in their knowledge of God’s truth. In keeping with our two principles, the author views growth in the knowledge of Christian doctrine as normal for those who truly value Christ and his saving work and apathy towards Christian doctrine as a sure sign of spiritual decline. In other words, faith in Christ always produces fervency in pursuing knowledge of Christ. In this passage today he gives at least 4 reasons as to why Christians are eager, life-long learners of Christian doctrine as revealed in the Bible. The reason I am preaching this sermon at this time is because over the last year a group of us have worked to put together a 60 session curriculum that is designed to expose every member of our congregation who is 16 years old and up to the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. This curriculum is called, "Foundations in the Faith." This week our discovery groups are beginning the first unit of 8 sessions from this course of study. It is our prayer that everyone 16 and up over the next 2-3 years will attend all 60 sessions. The reason we are having all our discovery groups go through the first 8 sessions right now is because you must go through these first 8 sessions prior to going through any of the other sessions, as they are an introduction to the whole. Beginning in January of 2007 we will be offering these beginning sessions twice per year. We are really encouraging you to get into one of our groups for these 8 weeks so you will be able to attend the rest of the sessions as they begin to be offered in the fall in a classroom setting. Let me show you right now from this passage why going to these sessions would be of value to you. MAIN POINT All Christians are eager, life-long learners of doctrine because…I. All Christians are teachers (vv. 11-12) Verses 11 and 12 state one of the central themes of this letter to the Hebrews. These Christians used to be faithful, zealous, knowledgeable Christians but due to the suffering of persecution and the temptations of sin, they have stopped faithfully pursuing Christ and are now in danger of quitting, of dropping out and going back to their old way of life. The author in chapters 1-5:10 has been describing the greatness of Christ as compared to angels and as compared to Moses. He has compared the greatness of Christ’s salvation to that of the Israelites who gained the land of Canaan. Most recently, at the end of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5, he has been reflecting on Christ’s work as our high priest, who represents us to God. He breaks off these descriptions of Christ, which he will pick up again in chapter 7 to challenge this church to return to the zeal they once had. He stops describing the priesthood of Christ because he is uncertain that they will be helped by what he is saying. His uncertainty is not due to the fact that this material is irrelevant to them or hard to understand but rather because they have become dull or sluggish of hearing. They are not interested in how Christ is revealed in the OT because they are not interested in Christ. They are unwilling to follow the author’s train of thought, not because it is beyond them intellectually but because they are not sure knowing Christ really amounts to anything. Now I think it is necessary for every Christian teacher and preacher to work hard at explaining the doctrines of the Christian faith as simply and clearly as we can. We must use language that people can understand and illustrations to make our points. However, the biggest barrier to understanding divine truth is not poor communicators but dull listeners. The word that is translated “slow to learn” in the NIV or “dull of hearing” in the ESV is actually the word for lazy or sluggish. It’s the word that I’ve heard Les Mitchell who teaches math at Parker High school use on a number of occasions as he is daily faced with students who have absolutely no interest in learning math and therefore put forth no effort to learn it. Many of his students are dull or lazy of hearing when it comes to math. I can’t tell you how many times over the course of my 30 years of ministry I have had people tell me they just cannot read the Bible or listen to a sermon on tape or sit through a forty minute sermon in church or read a short book on some aspect of the Christian faith but who will spend hours mastering video games or watching videos to improve their golf game or listening to tapes on how to manage their money or lose weight or will read countless magazines to find the best deal on some item they want. My dear friends, the reason that people are not interested in or bored by Christian teaching is not because it is too difficult or too boring but because they don’t believe that knowing Christ is anything special. In the case of these Hebrew Christians, at one time they were very eager to know Christ but now they are not. The reason isn’t because Jesus suddenly is less awesome but because something else has become more awesome to them. Notice in v. 12 that given the amount of time they have been Christians, they ought to be teachers of the gospel to others but instead they are in need of someone teaching them again the basic principles of the Christian faith. There are two things for you to recognize here. First, there are basic principles of the Christian faith, which means that there are also more advanced principles of the Christian faith that must be mastered. For some of you sitting in this room that are new to the Christian faith it makes perfect sense if some of what you read and hear doesn’t make much sense. There is a progression in the content of the gospel that goes from easier to harder. It is an obligation we have as a church to make sure that those who are new to the faith have opportunities to study the basics of the faith and have a chance to ask questions and clarify issues. Our newcomers group and discovering membership at River Hills classes seek to cover some of the basics. A number of our same gender small groups focus on the basics. Also, let me encourage those of you who are newer to the faith to ask an older Christian to meet with you so you can ask questions and get explanations for things that make no sense to you. This will be good for you and for them as it will force them to articulate the truth they say they believe. However, the other thing that must be recognized is that all Christians are expected to move beyond the basics and beyond the need to be taught the basics and are to come to the place where they are able to teach others the gospel. Every Christian is to be a teacher of the gospel. Not every Christian is called to be a pastor or to lead a small group but all of us are to understand the gospel so we adequately explain the gospel to others. The fact is that until you are able to explain something to another person you do not truly understand it. As most of you know I worked with Campus Crusade for Christ for 20 years. When Jane and I arrived at our first assignment at Mich. Tech. Univ. I went with my trainer on campus to share the gospel with students. I spent the first week simply following him around and watching and listening to him as he shared the gospel. On Monday of the second week he told me that it was my turn to share the gospel while he watched. I was eager to do so as I was unimpressed with his presentation and knew I could do better. I don’t remember much about that first experience except that by the end of my presentation I was as confused about the gospel as the student with whom I was talking. I left that meeting completely humiliated because I had failed miserably in trying to make clear why Christ was the only Savior from sin. What I did that night was go home and spend the entire evening thinking through the gospel and how to share it so that the next time I had the opportunity to explain it I would know what I was talking about. God expects you to be able to teach his truth, therefore, you must study so you can teach it. All Christians are eager, life-long learners of doctrine because…
II. Maturity is mandatory (vv. 13-14) The author next uses a powerful metaphor to encourage the Hebrew Christians to grow in their knowledge of God’s truth. He compares the Christian life to physical life. Babies drink milk and it is good that they do so. Again, new Christians need to learn the basics of Christian doctrine. However, the time comes when babies stop nursing and eat solid food like an adult. How weird would it be for a 15 year old to still be nursing? The author is essentially saying that the fact that they have no interest in pursuing the knowledge of Christ and his gospel is just like being a 15 year old who is still consuming his mother’s milk. I don’t think you can get any more graphic than that. People who profess to be Christians but who have no appetite for learning Christian doctrine are essentially saying they want to remain babies for life. The point here is this: God gave you his life when he caused you to be born again by the Spirit of God. Just as every baby leaves nursing behind and “graduates” to solid food, so every true Christian leaves behind the basics of Christian teaching and “feeds” on the solid food of God’s word. It is normal and natural for infants to become children who want to eat “grown up food”. All of us need to grow up and to sink our spiritual and intellectual teeth into the revelation of Christ that is contained in all of the Scriptures. When was the last time you learned something new in the Bible or had an old truth take on new meaning? This is to be a regular occurrence in our lives. All Christians are eager, life-long learners of doctrine because…
III. You cannot live right without knowing truth (v. 14b) In v. 14 the author defines for us what maturity looks like. What we discover is that the knowledge of God that he has been exhorting us to pursue is not simply head knowledge. We don’t study the Bible, we don’t learn the doctrines of the church so we can win at Bible trivia or impress our friends with big words. We aren’t interested in understanding what it means to say that God is a trinity just so we can say we understand it or in order to pass some test. Rather, the knowledge of God that we are to pursue is applied knowledge. That is, we not only know the truth but we love the truth and because we love the truth we live differently. In v. 13 this word that we learn is called “the word of righteousness”. What does that mean? First of all it is a word that describes the source of all righteousness, God himself. We discover in this word who God is and what God is like. We discover his commitment to his own glory and how he works his righteous purpose to display his glory throughout the universe. We learn how we fall short of his righteousness in this word. We discover the diverse and numerous ways that we are not righteous. We also discover in this word how God makes us righteous through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In this word of righteousness we learn that the God who justly hates the wicked has, for the sake of Christ and for no other reason, chosen to love all those who trust in Christ. It is in and by the truth contained in this word, by the doctrines it teaches that we understand how our lives are changed now by this good news of the righteousness of God given to sinners. We discover how to grow in righteousness as we learn this word. My friends, I can think of nothing more practical to tell you than that God has made a way for you, guilty sinner, to be justly accepted and loved by him through Christ’s obedient life and willing death and glorious resurrection. The truths contained in this book, in this gospel, are the only true and reliable words in the universe. As we understand more of the glory of God revealed in this word of righteousness and as we live in this world that God has made we increasingly understand what is good and what is evil. Our hearts are trained to see what course of action to take; what words to speak or not speak; what prayers to pray. What once seemed impossible to figure out, becomes clear in the light of God’s truth and the glory of belonging to him. The reason that knowledge of God’s truth is indispensable to living right is because God’s truth encompasses all of life. There is no part of your life that does not belong to God and does not relate to God. Knowing God is not just one part of your life, it is your life and only those who are growing in their knowledge of and appreciation for divine truth have any concept on how to live in God’s world. As we practice applying God’s truth to all of life, we become wiser about how to apply it. There is a growing competence in living as we grow in the knowledge of God through the knowledge of the doctrines that describe him, his world and his salvation. Living in God's world without a growing knowledge of God's word is like being a brain surgeon without every going to medical school or studying how the brain functions. When I first became a Christian during my junior year of college I found no greater happiness than in being with other Christians talking about Christ as he was revealed in the Bible. I pummeled older Christians with questions. I voraciously read my Bible and other Christian books. I loved going to church and Bible studies and I delighted to share what I was learning with others. I took that delight into my early years of ministry but gradually, over time, I became dull of hearing. I became lazy and sluggish in my pursuit of God and his truth. I felt that I knew everything that needed to be known. I found my happiness in reading novels and playing basketball and being a husband and father. I was deeply engaged in Christian ministry, sharing the gospel, counseling Christians, leading Bible studies and yet I was not mature any longer. I had no interest in solid food but was content with milk. My senses were not being trained by practice to discern good from evil. I prayed little and did very little to fight against my sin. Then, in 1990, 14 years after I became a Christian, God, through a friend and through a couple of books that my friend challenged me to read woke me up to the fact that I was not paying attention any longer. I had drifted away from this great salvation. The central thing that I rediscovered is that God is the center of everything. Life truly is about knowing him. The purpose of life is not to be a good husband and/or father. The goal of life is not to be a moral person. The goal of life is not to have a successful career or successful children. The goal of life is not to become "all that God created you to be." The goal of life is not to have a "Christian" marriage. The goal of life is not to share the gospel with as many people as possible. The goal of life is not to be a faithful pastor with a spiritually healthy congregation. God enabled me to know, in my heart, that the reason Christ came was to bring me to God. God himself is the goal, therefore, learning about the glory of God by learning the doctrines that describe his glory is a central part of living the Christian life. God aims that you and I passionately pursue all of our joy in him, in knowing him and his love for us through a growing delight in the truth he has revealed of himself in his word. I can tell you without any hesitation that the only reason I am standing before you this morning as a Christian and as a pastor in light of the tragedy that has befallen our family is that God in his mercy has enabled me to pursue the knowledge of him in the doctrines he has taught in his word. All Christians are eager, life-long learners of doctrine because…
IV. A foundation does not a house make (6:1-3) In the first chapter of v. 1 the metaphor changes once more. In light of what he has said in vv. 11-14 he exhorts us to move beyond the basic teachings of the gospel and to be carried on into maturity. Then he uses the metaphor of a building. He says that we are to stop working on the foundation and get busy building the house. I want you to look back at the beginning of chapter 3. Read with me vv. 1-6. Two things to notice here: First, we, the church, are God’s house. Second, God is the one who builds his house by means of Christ. Notice that in 6:1-3 all the pronouns are plural. In other words, this exhortation is addressed to the entire congregation. God is building his house, that is, the church. In order to build a house, you need a good foundation. God has laid the foundation in the church. It is described in v. 1 as "repentance from acts that lead to death and faith towards God." The foundation is the necessity of conversion from a life lived for self that leads to death to a life lived in Christ, by faith. Then in v. 2 he enumerates other specific instructions that comprise that foundational truth: Teachings about baptisms and the laying on of hands, about the resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment. I don't have the time to explain what each of these things mean. The point here is that this Hebrew church, as a whole, continues to only talk about the instructions they received when they first became Christians and they are not moving on from that basic foundation. The church has become stunted in its growth and is no longer flourishing in its faith. The church has become stagnant. They are like a building site where the foundation has been laid but that is all. The building materials are scattered around the building site. Weeds have grown up and obscured the foundation and vines cover the stacks of lumber which is getting all beaten up and weathered. This is the state of the entire church. The solution is, according to v. 1 to be carried on to maturity by learning the complete revelation of God in the Scriptures. In v. 3 the author indicates that this is the very reason he is writing to them and he does expect them to make progress "if God permits." Why does he say that? He recognizes that ultimately the effect of God's truth upon particular people and churches is not determined by the skill and zeal of the teacher nor the study and attentiveness of the audience. Rather God alone is the one who makes his word effective. Paul says the same thing in 1 Cor 3 with an agricultural metaphor. He says, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." Therefore, our teaching and our listening and studying must be done prayerfully. We must teach and study with all our might but we must do it asking God to make what we teach and study effective--so God alone gets the glory, not the teachers and not the students. We are not simply talking about knowing the truth, but loving it. We can and must learn, but only God can enable us to love what we learn. The most troubling conversations I have had in the thirty years I have been talking with people about Christ are the ones where I ask a person who has professed to be a Christian for years to explain the gospel to me; or to tell me how a person becomes a Christian or how do they know their sins are forgiven. They will tell me that when they were six they asked Jesus into their hearts and were baptized. Then when I begin to ask them to explain further they have nothing more to say. I am met by awkward silence or anger that I asked they explain anything more. They can't tell me what sin is or why asking Jesus into your heart is the condition for going to heaven or why Christ had to die. They have no idea what it means for God to be a Trinity or what difference it ought to make in their life that God created man in his image, male and female. They have no idea what it means for Jesus to be the Son of David or why that should fill them with confidence in God. Yet if I were to ask about the flowers in their garden they could tell me with great zeal and amazing detail the names and optimum conditions for growing each one of them. If I were to ask about their favorite TV show they could tell me the entire story line for the last seven years with absolute clarity. It is no wonder to me that so many find everything else so interesting but the gospel so boring when all they know about the gospel is that Jesus died for our sins and one day I'll go to heaven. The gospel is the most gloriously interesting thing in the universe because it is the story of the most fascinating person in the world and of the most intricate and amazing work ever performed. The story of the Bible is the story of our world and to neglect it is to live as a blind and ignorant person. For a church to not build upon the whole Bible and all the doctrines of the Bible is to build a church by continually laying the foundation but never getting to the rest of the building. God willing, we will move beyond the foundation and build the entire structure. The Foundations in the Faith curriculum is one tool we are going to use in that process, along with our Discovery Groups, learning the catechism, personal study and Family Worship. I exhort you in the words of Hebrews 6:1, "Let us be carried on into maturity…and we will do so, God permitting." All Christians are eager, life-long learners of doctrine because…
© Copyright 2006 John Swanson.
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