Hebrews chapter 5. There are two verses of scripture
that I have quoted so many times from this chapter. I just love
them. I love these. I've always rejoiced
in them, but I've never considered the context that they were written
in until I studied the whole chapter. I've never gone through
Hebrews before studying it, and in the context of the whole chapter,
I now more so see what they're saying. The two verses are verses
8 and 9, which say, Though he were a son, learned He obedience by the things
which He suffered. And being made perfect, He became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him."
Unto all them that obey Him. This entire chapter is about
our obedience to Him. And I never knew that. our obedience
to Him. This ends, this chapter ends
with a gentle rebuke. Every rebuke of God to His people
is a gentle rebuke. Aren't you so thankful for that?
They're all gentle rebukes. But it's a gentle rebuke and
it's an exhortation to all of God's people to obey Him. Our
Lord is the example that's given in the chapter, like He always
is. In everything that God commands
us to do, Christ is our example. And He shows us the example in
what He didn't do and in what He did do. Alright? He's our
example. Now let's start by seeing this
rebuke and this exhortation and then we'll look at our Lord's
example. Verse 11 says, of whom we have many things to
say and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing. That describes the flesh pretty
well, doesn't it? That's a very accurate description
of this flesh. Verse 12, for when for the time
you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you
again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are
become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every
one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness,
for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to
them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." Now let
me tell you what he's saying. He's talking about milk and meat. Here's the key to understanding
it. Here's the key to the whole thing. In verse 12, he said,
you ought to be teachers. But what he's saying is, unfortunately,
you're not. In the middle of verse 14, he
said, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised. Milk is the word of God. All right? Milk is the word. Meat is the walk. Milk is the word. Meat is the
walk. I would say most people would
think the easy things in the word, the easy things to understand,
that's the milk. And the hard things in the word
to understand, that's the meat. That's not the case. That's not
the case. This is chapter 5 here in Hebrews. Everything that he said up to
this point, don't turn, but in chapter one he talked about Christ
being the express image of the Godhead. Dwell on that for a
minute. Okay? He talked about Christ
by himself purging our sins and sitting down on the right hand
of the majesty on high. He talked about God the Father
saying to God the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever, a
scepter of righteousness. Chapter 2, he quoted, What is
man that thou art mindful of him? Dwell on that. Chapter 3, he talked about God's
people being partakers of the heavenly calling. Chapter four,
he talked about a great high priest that has passed into the
heavens for us. And because he was touched with
the feeling of our infirmities, we now can approach the throne
of his grace with boldness. That's deep. That's deep, isn't
it? Every bit of that is the written
word of God. Didn't we just quote the written
word of God? Therefore, it's milk. its milk. If it is the sincere word, every
single thing this word has to declare, all the deep things. When we talk about doctrine,
the only way doctrine is mentioned in the scripture is the doctrine
of Christ. All of the doctrine All of these, and we just read
in verse 11, some things are hard to be uttered. Peter said
some of the things Paul wrote are hard to be understood. All
of the things in scripture, if it is the sincere word, then
it's milk. Milk is a good thing. We don't ever want to get away
from it. Never. Peter said, desire the
sincere milk of the word. Isn't that what he said? Desire
it. Desire it. Verse 14 right here in Hebrews
5 says, but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of use. You see that word, use? Have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Milk is the
word, meat is the walk. James said it this way, look
with me at it, it's just a few pages over, in James chapter James chapter 1, he said in verse
22, But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. Be ye doers
of the word and not hearers only. He said because if that's how
we are, we're deceiving our own selves. Be doers of it, not hearers
only. Now in no way, shape, or form
are either one of these apostles saying that our works of obedience
play any role in our salvation. Neither one of them. We just
quoted long before that, Christ by himself purged our sins. That's how Paul set this whole
thing up. He said we have a great high
priest in chapter 4. He just finished chapter 4 saying
we have a great high priest. passed into the heavens, and
made intercession for us. That's how our salvation was
accomplished. Our obedience is not the cause,
but both of these apostles are warning, and this is what I would
just love to personally get a hold of, and for all of us to get
a hold of. They're both warning that when
God saves a sinner, Somebody asked Brother Henry one time,
you think he saved? He said, I'll answer that question
in about 30 years. When God saves a sinner, he goes
to work on that sinner's heart. He said he puts a brand new heart
in there. That's what he said. I'm going
to take out that old one and I'm going to put a brand new heart
in there. He produces obedience in a sinner. Buddy, a saved sinner
does not take one ounce of credit for his obedience and he is not
lifted up with one ounce of pride in his obedience. If he is, that's
not the work of God. But He does go to work and He
produces that obedience. And where there's no heart to
obey Him and truly bow to His Word, then there's no good evidence
of His salvation. God's people are doers of the
Word and not hearers only. They really are. Now go back
with me to Hebrews 5. Our Lord is our example. both
in what he didn't do and in what he did do. Hebrews 5 verse 1
says, For every high priest taken from among men, meaning all those
high priests that the Old Testament talked about, every high priest
taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining
to God that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins,
who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are
out of the way, for that he himself is also compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought,
as for the people, so also for himself to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honor
unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Now here's what he's saying.
All those high priests in the Old Testament were sinners. They
were all sinners. Christ was perfect. He was absolutely perfect. They were sinners. The sacrifices
that all those priests made, they could not put away one sin. Year after year after year after
year after year. Christ, by one sacrifice, put
away the sin of his people forever. But even so, Okay, those three
words, dwell on that for a minute. But even so, they were sinners,
he was perfect. They kept trying, trying, trying,
trying, trying, one time. But even so, verse five says,
so also Christ glorified not himself to be made in high priest. But he that saith unto him, thou
art my son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another
place, thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Those two verses right there
have always been a little hard to understand for me. They could
be two of the most glorious verses I think I've ever read. The amazement,
you talk about Christ the example. You talk about what is man, that
thou art mindful of him. Christ was the only man worthy
to be a high priest to God. But verse 4 says, no man takes
this honor to himself. God calls him. Isn't that right? Verse 5 says, So Christ glorified
not Himself. He obeyed God and listen to this,
He waited to be called. He waited to be called. God has
not purposed to have high priests anymore to offer sacrifices for
His people. We don't need sacrifices anymore.
One sacrifice has been made. We don't need high priests. We
don't need men to go to God for us. We have a great high priest. We have one. We don't need another
one. Our Lord has purpose though now to call pastors to stand
up in front of his people and preach the sacrifice and high
priest. The sacrifice is over. The high
priest is in his office. But now we preach those two things.
We stand up to the congregation and we preach that sacrifice
and we preach the high priest And if any man is wondering about
this office of pastor and whether or not God would have him to
do it, based on the word of God, I would encourage that man to
do three things. Three things. The first one is
wait. First thing, what should I do
right out of the gate? Wait. Wait on the Lord. No man taketh this honor to himself. Our Lord is our example. Wait. God calls a man. Wait. Don't
call the other pastors. Tell them you're coming through
town if you need me to fill in for you. Wait. Just wait. I mentioned it and a couple of
wise men, you know, I said, I had thoughts of a pastor and a couple
of wise men told me, don't tell anybody. Don't tell anybody. No man takes this office to himself.
No man puts a man in it. I could put every man in this
room behind this pulpit. I cannot put one man into God's
ministry. Not one man. I could, come the
end of next week, I could make it so that every man in this
room got behind this pulpit. I can't put one man in God's
ministry. All right, so wait. The second
thing that I would really encourage a man to do, based on the Word
of God, is pray. Pray about it. Pray about it.
Pray about it. Pray about it. Call on the Lord. What would you have me to do?
Don't let me influence myself and don't let any other man influence
me. What would you have me to do? Look at verse 7. Who in the
days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able. That's
the Son of God. That's the Son of God. Pray about
it. Wait and pray. Here's the third
thing I would strongly encourage based on this word, a man to
do. Find a job that's in the town where the gospel is preached
and try as hard as you can to make a career out of it. Try
as hard as you can. Jump in with both feet. Don't
hold back on promotions. And if a man has ever had a heart
to do this, he'll know what I'm talking about. Don't hold back
on more responsibility. Well, I don't want to make it
so God can't call me. I want to make myself available
now. I don't want to commit too much over here. If I go in too
deep, He might not call me back out of it. If God calls a person
to do anything, I mean anything, He will pull him out of anything
anywhere, I promise. You can ask Jonah. I promise. He'll pull him out of anything,
anywhere. Think about this. The God-man
came to this earth knowing he would be here for 33 years. He
knew that. For the first 30 years of his
time, from the time that he was, earthly speaking, old enough
to do anything, till he was 30 years old, do you know what he
did? He poured himself into a carpenter
shop. I mean he jumped in with both
feet. Is there any doubt in your mind
that he was the finest carpenter in town? Is there any doubt in
your mind? Can you imagine his desire for
perfection? I'm not satisfied with that yet.
Keep going, keep going. Perfect. He never missed a day
of work. Never missed a day of work. Can
you imagine how fair his prices were? He never gouged anybody,
never cheated anybody, never. If anything, I can see him only
charging material cost. The labor's free. You know what happens to a man
who is honest, hardworking, meticulous, and fair? You know what happens
to that man? He becomes, as we say it around here, covered up. That's what happens to him. He
becomes covered up. Our Lord was covered up with
work. There's no doubt in my mind. All in. He didn't have a part-time job
and hang around the parking lot of the synagogue just in case. He was all in. He worked hard. He was covered up. He was fair.
And he did that in faith, knowing God will call a man to do what
God wants him to do. That's faith. Verse 4 says, No
man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God,
as was Aaron. So Christ glorified not himself
to be made a high priest, but the Father. He that said unto
him, Thou art my Son, Today have I begotten thee. I'm calling
you today. You're the son of God and today
I'm calling you. Verse six, as he saith also in
another place, thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Christ was called. Christ went
around, and I speak as a man. I speak as a fool. But people
asked him, what do you do? He said, I'm a carpenter. God
Almighty said, you're a priest. Today I'm calling you. He waited,
he was obedient to God in all things. I mean in all things.
Verse 7 says, who in the days of his flesh when he had offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears
unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard
in that he feared, though he were a son Yet learned he obedience
by the things which he suffered, and being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. In the garden of Gethsemane,
he said, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, he
knew he was going to the cross to die. He knew it. He said,
for this cause came I into the world. He kept telling the apostles
that. He knew that. But at that moment
when all that sin was touching him, At that moment, whenever
he was feeling those infirmities, can you imagine the anguish and
the suffering and the guilt and the shame of experiencing what
it felt like to be me? He was there feeling what it,
you know, have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be
somebody else? Have you ever wondered that? Put yourself in
their skin? He was experiencing what it felt like to be me and
to be you. What goes on in the mind? Times
a number no man can number. Horrible anguish and pain. He
said, Father, if it's possible, if there's any way that having
all this feeling of wretchedness could pass from me, please take
it away. And then he said, nevertheless,
not as I will, but thine will be done. Verse eight, though
he were the son of God. Yet learned he obedience by the
things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he was
not made perfect. He was always perfect. Always.
He was conceived of the Holy Ghost. He was conceived in holiness. Born in holiness. grew up in
holiness. Finally, he became the fullness
of the stature of a man. And that's what perfect means.
A finished, mature man. That's the exhortation of this
chapter. Us growing up into mature followers of Christ. Verse 9.
Being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation
unto all them that obey him. called of God and high priest
after the order of Melchizedek. We're going to expound on Melchizedek
in chapter 7. That's where our Lord expounds
on it. Verse 11, of whom we have many
things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye, Gabe Stoniker,
are dull of hearing. Hard to understand, hard to utter.
He said, you're dull of hearing. He ends the glory of Christ our
example with this gentle rebuke. And he said, you're dull of hearing. That either means our soul doesn't
like it, just don't like it, don't want to hear it. Or it
means our soul is tired of hearing it. I've heard it before. Don't
tell it to me again. Or it means our soul is asleep,
physically wide awake, but our soul is asleep. Verse 12, he
said, for when for the time you ought to be teachers, you ought
to be examples. You aged men, three score and
10. You know, give or take. You aged
men need to be examples to us middle-aged men. We're looking
at you. We middle-aged men need to be
examples to the younger men. You young men need to be examples
to our children. You need to be. You need to be. We are all being watched. All of us. And we lead and we
learn by example. Every single one of us is an
example to somebody. Every single one of us. Verse
12, he said, for when for the time you ought to be teachers,
you have need, Gabe Stoniker, 40 years old, pastor of the congregation. You have need that one teach
you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of
God and are become such as have need of milk. You better go right
back to that word. And not of strong meat. Verse 13, he said, for everyone
that uses milk only is what he means. Everyone that uses milk
only, we can still drink milk. Infants only drink milk. Okay. Um, using milk is not a, not
a bad thing at all. I don't want to do anything without
drinking a glass of milk first. And what I mean by that is I
don't want to do anything without consulting the word of God first.
So verse 13, he said, everyone that uses milk and he means only
is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he's a babe. And what he's saying is whoever
is a hearer of the word only and not a doer of the word is
unskillful. If you have a margin in your
Bible that says has no experience. person goes to college and he
gets a degree and then he tries to go get a job and he's showing
that piece of paper to everybody, got his certificate, got his
degree. The employer says, that's great, I'm happy for you. Do
you have any experience? I know you learned it, that's
wonderful. Have you ever done it? Have you ever done it? And he says, everyone that's
that's only using milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness.
He's a babe. But. Strong me, verse 14, strong me,
those who hear the word and heed the word and are examples of
the word, those who obey God and say not my will, but thine
be done. Strong meat belongeth to them
that are of full age. The scripture keeps talking about
growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Full
age, growing into the stature of a complete, mature follower
of Christ. He said, strong meat belongeth
to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use. Again, if you have a center margin,
the word use means habit. How does something become a habit?
You keep doing it, and you keep doing it, and you keep doing
it, and you keep doing it. And the end of verse 14 says,
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised. In the concordance, all the meanings
of that word brings it back to this. working out, going to the
gym. It means to exercise. By use,
they've exercised to discern both good and evil. What should
I do? What should I not do? Discernment, mature discernment.
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, he said, when I was a child,
I spake as a I understood as a child, I thought as a child,
but when I became a man, I put away childish things." And what
he's saying is, it's time. That's what he's saying, it's
time. We are men and women who have been called by God Almighty. Called to be His saints, isn't
that right? to come out from among the people.
Isn't that what he said? Called to come out from the ways
of this world. called to not be conformed to
the world. Didn't he say be ye separate? Be ye sanctified, set apart for
holy use. May God enable us to walk in
that calling, truly walk in it. May he enable us to be obedient
doers of the word and not hearers only. And what that means is
may he give us the milk At first, I titled this message, Learning
to Go from Milk to Meat. And I was like, no, uh-uh, X
that out. I don't want to leave the Word
of God. I don't want to go from milk to meat. May He give us
the milk and may He give us the meat, the Word and the walk. Okay, you're dismissed.