The Anchored Soul – Part 1
Hebrews 5:11-14
August 2, 2015
Well as you know we are studying through
This wonderful book called “Hebrews”.
It is a letter inspired by the Holy Spirit to a group of Jews
Who were struggling with their faith.
On one hand they had come out and made a public profession of Jesus,
But now as they faced the threat of being cut off from all Jewish privileges
Some of them were contemplating defecting from Jesus.
The writer of this letter is imploring them not to do that
Since in Jesus they have more than they could ever find in Judaism.
And so the writer’s objective over the first 4 ½ chapters
Has simply been to build the Hebrews theology about Jesus.
• We’ve seen why Jesus is greater than the prophets
• We’ve seen why Jesus is greater than the angels
• We’ve seen why Jesus is greater than Moses
• We’ve seen why Jesus is greater than Joshua
• And just last week we began learning why Jesus is greater than any priest who has ever been.
Namely because Jesus is “the source of eternal salvation”
Jesus can save you and save you forever!
No priest has ever been able to do anything like that.
And then he made a statement in verse 10
To explain why Jesus is capable of eternal salvation.
He said “being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”
Jesus can save you forever because Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek.
Now, if you will look in your Bible down to chapter 7,
You will see that the writer will there continue this thought.
But first he pauses to address another issue.
Chapter 5:10 – 6:20 is what we call a “parenthetical” section of Scripture.
The writer is momentarily breaking from his train of thought
About Jesus being like Melchizedek.
The question is “WHY?”
Why introduce Melchizedek in chapter 5 and then wait until chapter 7 to get back to him?
The answer is found in chapter 5 verse 11
Hebrews 5:11 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”
The writer says that he can’t keep going
Because his congregation isn’t paying attention.
Imagine this morning if in the middle of the sermon you fall asleep and I stop the sermon and call you out for your unwillingness to pay attention.
Well, that is what is happening here.
He is revealing to these Hebrews why they have the problems they have.
• Remember these are a people who are vacillating.
• They don’t know if they want to follow Jesus or be Jewish.
• They are filled with anxiety over which way is the right way.
• They are literally confused and scared people.
They reached out to Jesus, but they can’t seem to fully enjoy Him.
Jesus has offered rest, but they can’t seem to enter it.
Jesus offers eternal salvation, but they can’t seem to grasp it.
They are struggling.
They have Jews pulling from one side and Christians from the other
And they are like the puff of the dandelion; blown this way and that.
They aren’t sure what to believe
They aren’t sure which way to go
They are confused, discouraged, and scared
Have you ever felt that way?
Carrie and I talked about it recently.
Most of you are aware of the health problems Carrie has had over the last few years and how frustrating it can be to get help.
3 different doctors say 3 different things
And all of them are 100% sure their way is the right way.
And all of them have a few testimonials of success
Tucked away in their pocket as if to prove why they are right.
And you try one for a while with mixed results
You move to the next
Then to the next
And before long you find yourself sitting in your living room
Wondering if really any of them know the right way.
And it was in the middle of one of those moments
That Carrie and I wondered
What people on the outside of religion must think.
Here are all these religions all promising to have the answer,
All offering the same thing through different means,
And all pushing out there a few testimonials to prove their way is right.
It can get confusing.
AND THAT IS WHERE THE HEBREWS WERE.
They were confused, they were discouraged, and they were scared.
And the writer of Hebrews is about to tell them
Why they have that problem,
And more importantly he is about to tell them how to fix it.
Typically when we start a new book study I try to give it a name
That sort of gives the general idea of what we are studying.
Genesis was “The Gospel According to Moses”
Job is “The Woeful World of Uz”
This study we have just called “Hebrews”
But we gave it the subtitle: “Because Every Ship Needs an Anchor”
At the end of the day we are really in search of something that holds.
We are in search of something that is solid.
Something that will keep us from drifting toward danger
We all recognize that this world is filled with various currents
All ready to sweep us away. We need to be anchored.
And that is precisely the purpose of this section in the book of Hebrews.
The writer is out to show these anxious and confused Hebrews
Where their anchor is.
Hebrews 6:11-12 “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
It is that “full assurance of hope until the end” that he is after.
And of course he is out to show them that
This hope is found only in Jesus.
Hebrews 6:19-20 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
And that has been the purpose of this book.
He is trying to give these Hebrews the truth about Jesus
In order that he might solidify their hope and thus anchor their souls.
That has been the point. – He is trying to anchor them
But, he has hit a problem.
The Hebrews have thus far been
Disinterested in what he is trying to accomplish.
According to verse 11, they have “become dull of hearing.”
And that is the reason that they still don’t have hope.
Now, we’re going to be in this passage for the next 4 sermons
This morning we’ll see the first point about having an anchored soul.
So, do you want your soul to be anchored?
Do you want to have rest?
Do you want to have hope?
If so, this section of Scripture is for you.
#1 HE EXPOSES THE PROBLEM
Hebrews 5:11-14
Here the writer is very simply revealing to the Hebrews
Why their lives and their souls are on such unstable ground.
He is going to show them why they are vacillating, why they are drifting, why they are confused, and why they don’t know which way to go.
And I don’t mind telling you that if you find yourself in that condition,
Their problem could be your problem too.
Now let’s break it down a little further.
1) WON’T HEAR TRUTH (11)
“Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”
What a bold statement.
Hebrews, you have a problem, and your problem is that
“you have become dull of hearing.”
You weren’t always this way, but now you are.
“dull of hearing” translates NOTHROS
It comes from two words which mean “no” and “push”
We would say “no drive” or “no incentive”
And thus the word came to be defined as “sluggish” or “slothful”
In short, the writer tells these Hebrews that the reason they have no hope is because they have been lazy in regard to the truth.
They are refusing to hear it.
And incidentally, “hearing” doesn’t just refer to how you listen to a sermon,
But rather how you listen to God, and thus also includes their lack of faithfulness to read and study the scriptures on their own.
To put it bluntly, they weren’t committed to hearing what God had to say.
They wouldn’t read it on their own.
They wouldn’t pay attention when someone else preached it to them.
They were “dull of hearing”
This is not the first time language like this has been used in Scripture.
Remember Isaiah’s calling?
Isaiah 6:8-10 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand.’ “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
The message was for Isaiah to go and preach truth,
In the process he would reveal that Israel wouldn’t heart it.
Incidentally, no Old Testament passage of Scripture
Is quoted more in the New Testament than that one.
When Jesus’ disciples asked why He spoke cryptically in parables, Jesus answered:
Matthew 13:12-15 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’”
In John 9 after healing a man born blind, Jesus said:
John 9:39 “And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
In John 12 after revealing that He was the Light and people loved darkness, John said:
John 12:37-40 “But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.”
When Jesus disciples demonstrated a lack of discernment, Jesus asked them if this blindness was in them as well:
Mark 8:17-18 “And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet see or understand? Do you have a hardened heart? “HAVING EYES, DO YOU NOT SEE? AND HAVING EARS, DO YOU NOT HEAR? And do you not remember,”
And when Paul was rejected by the Jews in Rome, he said:
Acts 28:25-26 “And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING,BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;”
The point is that this dullness;
This refusal to listen to what God has to say
Has been a major problem throughout the ages.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”
It is a universal problem,
And the writer of Hebrews says it is their problem as well.
• Maybe they viewed the Bible as boring…
• Maybe the sermons were dull…
• Maybe Bible study was just too much work…
And incidentally, hearing from God is hard work.
Proverbs 2:1-5 “My son, if you will receive my words And treasure my commandments within you, Make your ear attentive to wisdom, Incline your heart to understanding; For if you cry for discernment, Lift your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver And search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will discern the fear of the LORD And discover the knowledge of God.”
I’ve always likened Bible study to mining.
Some nuggets do just sit right on top of the ground for you to pick up and enjoy, but there is a valuable treasure well below the surface that will require hard work and dedication if you are ever going to extract it.
It is possible that the Hebrews just didn’t want to do the work.
• They had better things to do than sit and study Scripture.
• They had better things to do than meditate on what God had to say.
• They had better things to do than to cry for understanding.
They were slothful, they were sluggish, they were lazy, they had no drive,
They were “dull of hearing” from God.
And you will see in this passage that
This one reality is more responsible for a person’s lack of hope
Than any other reality in their life.
To put it another way:
The strength of your hope is directly proportional to the depth of your theology.
If you don’t have hope you can’t blame it on the sickness,
You can’t blame it on the president, you can’t blame it on your parents,
You certainly can’t blame it on God.
The root of hopelessness is a refusal to listen to God.
Let me show you why.
They wouldn’t hear the truth, and this led to the second problem:
2) HAVEN’T LEARNED TRUTH (12)
“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, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
Does the point make sense?
They wouldn’t hear the truth and therefore they hadn’t learned the truth.
Makes sense doesn’t it?
If you won’t hear it, then you sure won’t learn it.
I mean listen, the spiritual knowledge of God
Does not come pre-programmed in your mind.
You aren’t born thinking like God.
You aren’t born understanding the things of God.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
1 Corinthians 2:9-11 “but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”
You don’t naturally think like God thinks.
You don’t come from the womb with spiritual knowledge.
If you are to know it, then you are going to have to learn it.
And the only way to learn it is to hear it.
They wouldn’t hear, so they hadn’t learned.
AND THIS IS ACTUALLY QUITE EMBARRASSING.
For the writer says, “though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you”
Listen, a 5 year old that doesn’t understand
Justification by faith or sacrificial atonement, or eternal security, or sanctification
is expected.
But an adult who has been a Christian for 5 or 10 or more years
Who still doesn’t understand those things is disheartening.
• Look I know that Romans 5 and the original sin of Adam is a tough study.
• I know that Romans 4 and the study of justification by faith deals with a lot of history regarding Abraham and David, and it is a lot of work to get through that.
• I know that Romans 8 and the study of the sanctification of the Holy Spirit is long and at times confusing.
• I know that Romans 9-11 and the study of God’s sovereignty has some issues that are hard to reconcile in our mind.
But do you suppose it’s ok just to go on and not know it?
God preserved that for you
With the intent that you would hear and understand what He had to say.
But these Hebrews hadn’t.
They wouldn’t hear so they hadn’t learned.
And so the writer says they needed to go back to the very beginning.
“you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”
Did you hear what he just called them? -babies
If I were to ask you what you had for breakfast this morning or supper last night, I might get all sorts of answers.
(Anywhere from eggs to chicken to steak or whatever.)
But did anyone in here last night have a bottle full of milk?
Did anyone in here have a jar of baby food?
I think it’s safe to say that you’re past that.
Now we give milk and baby food to babies because that’s all they can handle.
We aren’t concerned that a baby doesn’t know what to do with a ribeye.
• But you have teeth
• You have a strong digestive system
• You can use a fork and a knife
• You know how to cook
These Hebrews were like babies who were too lazy to chew meat.
They just wanted something that had been puréed
So that they could swallow without any real effort.
AND HE IS BLASTING THEIR IGNORANCE
Because they are ignorant due to laziness.
They aren’t too dumb to learn, they’re too lazy to learn.
And now they need “for someone to teach [them] the elementary principles of the oracles of God”
Do you know what “the elementary principles” are?
It is the Old Testament.
Everything in God’s Law was ordained for a child to grasp it.
When I was in kindergarten they started teaching us letters. We started with a blow letter “M” that had arms and legs and a head. We called him “Mr. Munch”.
We could see him, we could touch him, we could learn hands on.
That is precisely what the Old Testament was.
• You saw God’s glory in the cloud.
• You learned about the separation between God and man from the veil.
• You learned about atonement by killing that lamb that had been in your house.
• You learned about uncleanness by having to live outside the camp.
• You learned about being set apart by growing the hair long on your temples.
• You learned about intercessory prayer by watching smoke from incense rise.
Everything was simple, hands on, clear cut.
Furthermore every bit of it pointed to Jesus,
But these Hebrews hadn’t even understood that.
They had never even grasped the simple truths of the O.T.
They hadn’t learned it because they wouldn’t hear it.
Now that led to another problem.
Won’t hear it, so you haven’t learned it.
Haven’t learned it so…
3) DON’T KNOW TRUTH (13)
“For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.”
They had never learned the truth, so now they didn’t know it.
Have you ever spent much time teaching children?
(Maybe Sunday School or KFC)
• Any of you ever taught the story of Noah’s ark?
• Any of you have taught the story of creation?
• Any of you ever taught about David and Goliath?
• Any of you ever taught about Daniel and the Lion’s den?
Those are simple stories we teach our children over and over and over.
• Now, how often to you teach Hebrews 7 about Melchizedek?
• How often have you taught Ephesians 1 about God’s election?
• How often do you teach Jude about apostasy?
• How often have you taught the book of Job?
Not very often, because they are kids, and they can’t handle all of that yet.
But what is disheartening is when we have Christian adults,
Who have been Christians for years who still don’t know any more
Than the story of David and Goliath.
And even then they don’t know how that story represents Christ and foreshadows His victory of sin and the deliverance of His people.
They won’t hear it, so they haven’t learned it,
And therefore, they don’t know it.
They aren’t “accustomed to the word of righteousness”
Because they are infants.
Timeout preacher.
• I may not know all of those truths…
• I may not have spent time studying the Scriptures…
• BUT WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ME NOT HAVING HOPE?
Well, let’s look at the final point here.
They wouldn’t hear truth so they hadn’t learned truth.
They hadn’t learned truth so they didn’t know truth.
They didn’t know truth so…
4) CAN’T BENEFIT FROM TRUTH (14)
“But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”
Here the writer is now referring to those people who
HAVEN’T been lazy in regard to listening to God.
They have studied the word,
They have built their theology and solidified their doctrine.
And now their “senses” have been “trained”
If you bring black olives to my house, my kids won’t eat them.
One time we had a couple over who brought a relish tray and on it were whole black olives. My kids thought they were grapes.
One olive later and my kids learned discernment.
Their senses were trained.
You can’t give them an olive and tell them it’s a grape anymore,
They know better.
And that is the point.
People who have spent time hearing from God in His word
Simply know better than to swallow all the junk
That’s being offered to them.
I had a funeral home director come up to me one time and tell me that he was really confused about what was true (funeral sermons will do that to you).
I told him that there is no substitute
For disciplined study of the word of God.
You can’t get discernment out of a box of cracker jacks.
But that was the problem of the Hebrews.
• Jews were telling them to come to the temple.
• Christians were telling them to follow Jesus.
And they didn’t know who was right because they had no discernment.
They had been lazy in regard to God’s word
And now they didn’t know who was right and who was wrong.
Their “senses” weren’t “trained to discern good and evil.”
And the writer says the root reason is because
“you have become dull of hearing.”
• I’m trying like crazy to give you the truth that will anchor your soul and solidify
your heart and steady your emotions.
• I’m trying to tell you why Jesus is the answer and why you don’t have to fret
other teachers,
• And it would help you immensely, but you won’t hear it.
And as long as you refuse to hear it,
You will remain like a ship being tossed by every wave.
You need an anchor.
Jesus is that anchor,
• But you can’t use it, because you don’t know how.
• You don’t know how because you’ve never learned how.
• You’ve never learned how because you won’t listen to those who
would teach you how.
And there is why you are tossed every direction.
• You hear a preacher on TV and he sounds right.
• You hear a preacher at a funeral and he sounds right.
• You hear some teacher of a false religion and what he says sounds right.
• You watch NBC and you think democrats are right.
• You watch FOX news and you think republicans are right.
But at the end of the day you are tossed and influenced
By the latest wave to come crashing into your ship.
It’s because you’ve been lazy in regard to the word of God.
Did you know that God’s word is meant to stabilize you?
Ephesians 4:11-14 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;”
All those gifts listed there were in reference to disseminating God’s word.
• Apostles reveal the word
• Prophets proclaim the word
• Evangelists spread the word
• Pastors apply the word
• Teachers explain the word
But the goal of all of them so that you will “no longer be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by ever wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”
You’re supposed to know the word so that
You can tell the difference between a grape and an olive.
Jesus said:
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
It is the truth that will free you.
And that is freedom from confusion, despair, and hopelessness as well.
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”
Psalms 119:97-104 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”
Do you get the point?
The writer of Hebrews is telling this group of confused converts that
• I am about to give you the truth that will anchor your soul and pour conviction into your bones.
• I’m about to tell you things that will solidify Jesus in your hearts and you’ll never waiver again, nor fail to have hope in Him.
• I’m about to explain to you why you have forgiveness, security, intercession, hope, and an eternal home that will never be taken from you.
• I’m about to give you the truth that will calm your anxiety and allow you to see through all the lies that you’ve been taught.
• In fact, I would have already given it to you, but you wouldn’t listen, and that is why you’re in the predicament you’re in today.
SO…
• Are you ready to listen?
• Are you ready to become a student of the word of God?
• Are you ready to do the work required to understand truth?
I hope so because it is the first step to having the anchored soul.
