Arrested Development

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†CALL TO WORSHIP Isaiah 64:1; Psalm 145:18

Paul Mulner, Elder

Minister: Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence –

Congregation: We gather because you have called us and you alone are worthy of our worship. Now, we call upon you, for the Lord is near to all who call upon him in truth.

†PRAYER OF ADORATION AND INVOCATION

†OPENING PSALM OF PRAISE #148B

“Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah”

†CONFESSION OF SIN AND ASSURANCE OF PARDON

TIME OF SILENT CONFESSION

Minister: Father in heaven, forgive us for thinking so highly of ourselves.

Congregation: We often think that we are righteous by our own actions, forgetting that true righteousness comes only through the blood of Christ. We look at the failings of others and do not like to admit we are weak. We forget that true strength comes from the joy of the Lord.

Minister: Forgive us, Lord for our pride and self-righteousness.

Congregation: We do not love others as we love ourselves, and in so doing, we fail to love you, the Creator of all. Forgive us, heavenly father, and in your mercy change our hearts and put our sins out of your sight. We ask this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen.

CONTINUAL READING OF SCRIPTURE Pastor Austin Prince

Numbers 20:14-29

Numbers 20:14–29 ESV

14 Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 18 But Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will pay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” 20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him. 22 And they journeyed from Kadesh, and the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor. 23 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor, on the border of the land of Edom, 24 “Let Aaron be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the people of Israel, because you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and Eleazar his son and bring them up to Mount Hor. 26 And strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron shall be gathered to his people and shall die there.” 27 Moses did as the Lord commanded. And they went up Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son. And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 And when all the congregation saw that Aaron had perished, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

THE OFFERING OF TITHES AND OUR GIFTS

“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” (Malachi 3:10, ESV)

CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

†HYMN OF PREPARATION #271

“Blessed Jesus, at Your Word”

SERMON Hebrews 5:11-6:3 // Arrested Development

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy scripture to be written for our learning; grant that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of your holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our savior Jesus Christ.

TEXT HEBREWS 5:11-6:3

Hebrews 5:11–6:3 ESV

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 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, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 1 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, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits.

AFTER SCRIPTURE

Teach me your way, O Lord and I will walk in your truth. Give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.

INTRODUCTION

Chelsea and I enjoy home design shows and DIY projects. I lean toward the building side of things, but she has a gift for the design. She studies it. She really sees things differently than I do. One of the ways this comes through most clearly is in her understanding of color.

When I see a room with white cabinets, I might say, “Hey, let’s paint our cabinets white like that!” But Chelsea will say, “That’s not just white—that’s Alabaster or Chantilly Lace, or Oxford stone. That’s a warm white, not a cool one.” I’m thinking in primary colors. But she’s seeing a whole spectrum I didn’t even know existed. And her discernment makes the whole space warmer, more beautiful, more alive.

In today’s text, the author of Hebrews pauses the main thread of his argument—this glorious explanation of Jesus as our Great High Priest—and says to his listeners: “You’re not seeing the spectrum. You’re still stuck on the primary colors. You should be maturing by now, but you’re not.”

This isn’t a cheap shot or a passive-aggressive insult. It’s a pastoral warning. Their lack of depth in the doctrines they know, the lack of development and the failure to launch, isn’t a personality flaw—it’s a spiritual danger. Their immaturity is evidence that they’ve grown “dull of hearing.”

The goal of this text is not to scold, but to awaken. The warning is serious, but it comes from love. The author longs for his readers—and us—to press on to maturity. Our sermon today is going to focus and stay on that brief pause in the argument – to take heed and take heart to this side comment that the author makes. Let’s look at that pause again:

I. THE PAUSE IN THE ARGUMENT (Hebrews 5:11)

Right before this section, we’ve been climbing a theological mountain. The author has just introduced Jesus as our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek — a majestic, mysterious, powerful truth.

And then, he stops.

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” (Heb. 5:11)

The author says that this is difficult to explain, but for a specific reason. It’s not hard because it’s too complex to teach. It’s not hard because the Hebrews were too slow and simple to understand it.

This isn’t a problem of intellect. It’s not that the content is inaccessible. The problem is that their spiritual senses are sluggish. They aren’t ready for more — not because the truths are too hard, but because their appetite hasn’t grown with their years in the faith.

They have become slow to hear.

Have you ever seen someone, or maybe even been someone, who has selective hearing? (Maybe your parents have spoken about this to you?) Your ears work perfectly well, but they only hear what they want to hear. If Mom and Dad are speaking to you, or your spouse is speaking to you, and what they are sayin doesn’t really interest you, then you sort of nod your head but you have no clue what they are sayin. But occasionally, they will say something that you are interested in and you perk right up. If we are talking about cleaning up toys no one seems to hear, but if we are talking about going out for ice cream then it seems that you could hear me from across the house.

It’s this sort of thing that is going on. The author wants to keep telling them all the great things about Jesus as the High Priest–how that will bless their lives, comfort their souls, bring them further up into the faith, but they can’t process that yet. They can’t grasp it. They can hear it, but they can’t understand it, because they have been lazy listeners, not taking what they hear and applying it. That over time has stunted their growth and is a real danger in need of a warning.

The writer goes on to give three illustrations of this danger:

II. THE FIRST ILLUSTRATION: MILK AND SOLID FOOD (Hebrews 5:12–14)

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles… You need milk, not solid food.” (Heb. 5:12)

They are spiritual infants, still living off milk, when they should be mature enough for meat (it’s right there in scripture that we are to eat meat. It’s Father’s Day and we should all go home and apply this teaching).

Anecdote: “Chelsea and I once saw a documentary clip about a man in his twenties who ate nothing but frozen chicken nuggets. That was his whole diet. It was sad and even shocking. Something had stunted his appetite—and his growth. That’s the same concern the writer of Hebrews is raising here.”

The author is saying: Milk is good, but it’s not meant to be your permanent diet. You’re supposed to grow. You’re supposed to mature.

It’s not saying is that they are merely baby theologians. That their immaturity and the metaphor of milk to meat, is not that they are only reading the scriptures and devotional materials when they should be reading Calvin and the scriptures in Greek.

But here’s the issue:

“…those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (5:14)

They aren’t growing, because they aren’t practicing. They aren’t applying. They aren’t obeying what they already know.

They ought to be teachers by now. They ought to be able to help others. They should be well nourished by all the teaching that they have had, but they aren’t ready. The text says that they still need that same milk–those same lessons again and again and again.

Why? Because they are slow and dull/lazy of hearing. Slow to apply.

Have you ever picked up a book that you forgot that you had read? You look in and you see that you apparently highlighted several pages and took notes, but you have completely forgotten it. Why? Usually it’s because we haven’t applied it. Even more, and to the point of this text, when you teach you learn even more.

Question 1: ARE YOU GROWING IN DISCERNMENT?

Do you still struggle with the same doubts and sins in the same ways year after year? Do you find yourself cycling back to the same questions: “Am I really saved?” “Does God really love me?”

Have you developed a Christian instinct? A sense — like Chelsea’s sense of color — for what is fitting, what is beautiful, what is true?

Discernment isn’t about knowing the difference between black and white. It’s not like the Hebrews were wrestling with whether murder was wrong or not. It’s a comment about knowing the shades — knowing what’s good, what’s better, and what’s best. That kind of discernment only comes from obedience and practice. What does forgiveness demand in my speech? I used to think that my speech to my kids was just right, now I see that God would have me be fore faithful by changing this or that. It’s what we call here growth in grace. It’s something that is expected. The truth is, it’s often hard. It’s a challenge to our ears because it’s a challenge to our obedience.

When someone loses their appetite, you often know that’s when they are sick. The warning to this congregation was exactly that. They had slowed in their desire to eat, and it highlighted their trouble.

So, ARE YOU GROWING IN DISCERNMENT?

III. THE SECOND ILLUSTRATION: THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES (Hebrews 6:1)

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity…” (6:1)

The second picture is that of elementary school.

“If the first metaphor is about nourishment, the second moves to education — from feeding to forming.”

They’re stuck in their spiritual ABCs. But those ABCs are meant to launch us into reading, and writing, and literature, and the telling of story.

Where the first illustration focused on maturity, the thrust of this second illustration is on what that maturity will afford us.

If a child is still struggling with the alphabet at age 18, we don’t just say “Well, at least they’re learning something.” We grieve what was lost. We know the riches of what they will never be able to see or interact with had they grown into maturity.

The same is true here. The “elementary principles” listed — repentance, faith, cleansing, resurrection, eternal judgment — these are essential. But they’re foundational. They are supposed to build something on them.

Take the example that this text gives. The Hebrews are to hear about Jesus as the Great High Priest, but they can’t understand that yet. They were to be drawn to His humanity, to see the work involved in their forgiveness, it was supposed to compel them practically to come before the throne with confidence, and it would have kept them away from trying to go back to the temple down the street or paying for another lamb to be sacrificed in their place. But instead of that message landing, they needed again to hear the basics.

Question 2: What kinds of truths are not being developed and fleshed out in our lives?

Have you taken what you’ve learned and applied it? Have the ABC’s of the gospel blossomed to give life and help and and vision and navigation in your marriage? Your parenting? Your politics? Your spending? Your speech?

The gospel is not meant to live in a doctrinal box labeled “theology.” It’s meant to bleed out into every corner of your life.

We don’t need Christians who can merely recite John 3:16. We need Christians whose understanding of John 3:16 builds into a whole house — a life of mercy, of courage, of compassion, of repentance, of boldness in Christ.

IV. THE THIRD ILLUSTRATION: A FOUNDATION WITHOUT A HOUSE (Hebrews 6:1–3)

“…not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God…” (6:1)

Here, the image is of a house that has a foundation poured, but no frame, no roof, no walls. And some of Hebrews, and some of us, might be living in the Christian life that way — with a solid foundation, but no structure. They were sleeping on a concrete slab. The foundation of repentance and faith are marvelous, and they are terrific material to hold up the weight of our lives, but we must put the raw material on top of them and build.

And that’s not what the foundation is for. A foundation is for building on top of. What should be there are walls and paint, windows and light, furniture and warmth — a space that is furnished out, a place that others can be invited into. A faith that’s hospitable. A life that is stable but also sheltering and nourishing.

Question 3: Are you being built up?

Can younger believers look to your life and say, “That’s what it looks like to walk with Jesus in middle age… or in grief… or in parenting… or in suffering”?

Or are you still wrestling with whether or not God hears you when you pray?

Has the foundation of your forgiveness built up your relationships? Does the bedrock of your forgiveness makes its way up into bedrooms and warmth of love for others?

Spiritual maturity, as 2 Cor. 10:5 says, “takes every thought captive to obey Christ”

V. CALL TO MATURITY

The goal of this whole passage is simple: Grow up in Christ. Leave behind an immature, cyclical, shallow Christianity — not by abandoning the gospel, but by letting the gospel bear deeper fruit.

The author isn’t scolding the Hebrews to shame them. He’s urging them forward because there’s more joy, more freedom, more stability on the other side of growth.

VI. PRACTICAL CHARGES

1. Commit to growing in discernment. Begin by obeying what you already know. Practice the truth.

Apply it in speech, in thought, in service.

2. Pick up a new theological or devotional book this month. Push your understanding and explore how your faith speaks to all of life.

3. Mentor someone younger in the faith. Take what you’ve received and build it into someone else. That’s how maturity multiplies.

4. Examine the foundation of your life — and build. Don’t live on the slab. Ask what structures God wants to raise on top of what He’s already begun in you.

CONCLUSION

To go back to where we began — my monochromatic understanding of color — I now understand that Chelsea sees more because she has trained herself to see. She pays attention. She studies. She cultivates.

That’s the call for us in this passage. Train yourself in the faith. Study. Obey. Cultivate a rich and colorful Christian life.

Don’t settle for milk. Don’t settle for the ABCs. Don’t settle for a bare concrete slab.

Encourage Covenant of Grace congregation on doing so well here.

Press on to maturity. Build a house. Feast on the meat of the gospel. Let your life — and the lives of those around you — be enriched by it.

†HYMN OF RESPONSE #452

“Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me”

THE MINISTRY OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

Minister: Lift up your hearts!

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Minister: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise!

THE WORDS OF INSTITUTION Mark 14:22-25

Hear Jesus’ words as he offers the supper to his disciples:

And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it.

And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

CONFESSION OF FAITH Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A’s 75, 80

Minister: Christians, what do you believe about these words?

Congregation: By these words our Lord commands all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup in true faith and in the confident hope of his return in glory.

In this supper God declares to us that our sins have been completely forgiven through the one sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which he himself finished on the cross once for all. He also declares to us that the Holy Spirit grafts us into Christ, who with his very body is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, where he wants us to worship him.

Minister: Let us worship him together. Be seated.

INVITATION TO THE LORD’S TABLE The Lord has prepared this table for all who love him and trust in him alone for their salvation. It is for those who belong to Christ through repentance, faith, baptism, and abiding union with his Church.

“O taste and see that the LORD is good; happy are those who take refuge in him.” Let’s pray.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING Minister: Lord, our God, send your Holy Spirit so that this bread and cup may be for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we and all your saints be united with Christ and remain faithful in hope and love. Gather your whole church, O Lord, into the glory of your kingdom. We pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS [Ask elders to distribute the trays].

Does everyone have what they need?

SHARING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER

As the Lord Jesus has commanded us, take, eat and drink, remember, believe, and proclaim.

†OUR RESPONSE

“Come, Thou Almighty King”

To the great one in three eternal praises be,

hence evermore. His sovereign majesty

may we in glory see, and to eternity love and adore.

†BENEDICTION: GOD’S BLESSING FOR HIS PEOPLE

The blessing of God, the giver of every good and perfect gift; and of christ, who summons us to service, and of the Holy Spirit, who inspires generosity and love, goes and abides with you all. Now and forevermore, Amen.

Grace Notes Reflection

Hebrews 5:11-6:3 reminds us that Christians are to expect growth into maturity, “the eating of solid food”, but there are some who are still drinking milk. Why? Because they’ve become dull of hearing—not unable to hear, but unwilling to grow through obedience.

This maturity isn’t about how many theology books you’ve read or how advanced they are. It’s about whether you’re learning to apply God’s Word. Are you digesting and taking nourishment from what you have? If not, you won’t have an appetite or be able to stomach any more.

V.14 says that “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

That is, we are to constantly practice putting our faith to the challenges and trials of our lives, distinguishing what is good, true, beautiful, and lovely in those circumstances - what faithfulness would require in areas that we have never seen it applied to before.

This passage presses us further on—to stop relaying the same foundation and start building on it.

Ask yourself

Am I applying what I already know?

Am I able to help others grow by sharing what I know? Can I model it and be an example of it?

Am I seeking God’s wisdom in everyday choices?

Am I building on my foundation? “I know about forgiveness and am forgiven, but am I able to teach it to others? Does it come through that I understand that lesson in my speech, comments, and interactions? Do the people who know me the best see that coming through?