The Hindrance That Is Spiritual Immaturity

The HINDRANCE That Is SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY—Hebrews 5:11-14

Attention:

Before You Buy, Know Your Appliances

A blonde went to the appliance store sale and found a bargain. "I would like to buy this TV," she told the salesman.

"Sorry, we don’t sell to blondes," he replied.

She hurried home and dyed her hair, then came back and again told the salesman, "I would like to buy this TV."

"Sorry, we don’t sell to blondes," he replied.

"Darn, he recognized me," she thought.

She went for a complete disguise this time; haircut and new color, new outfit, big sunglasses, then waited a few days before she again approached the salesman. "I would like to buy this TV."

"Sorry, we don’t sell to blondes," he replied.

Frustrated, she exclaimed, "How do you know I’m a blonde?"

"Because that’s a microwave," he replied.

Immaturity can hinder the revelation of truth.

Likewise, spiritual immaturity causes a great deal of frustration for the spiritually mature..

Need:

The writer to the Hebrews was frustrated by his audience’s spiritual immaturity.

*Spiritual truth is hindered/frustrated by spiritual immaturity.

Spiritual immaturity frustrates/impairs/disables the Gospel/God’s truth & the Church’s mission.

How is truth hindered/ frustrated by spiritual immaturity?

3 hindrances produced/created by spiritual immaturity.

1—Spiritual Immaturity is a Hindrance to...

COMPREHENSION(:11)

Explanation:(:11)

:11—“of whom we have much to say, & hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”

As the Causer(:9) of our eternal salvation, Jesus had been called by God to be our “eternal High Priest.” & as such, He is High Priest in the same “order”/sense as “Melchizedek.” A discussion regarding him is pertinent to the spiritual well-being of the audience, particularly as the aura surrounding Mechizedek directly concerns the High Priesthood of Christ Jesus. A comparison of his ministry & very existence as it relates to that of Christ, is what the author of Hebrews desires to divulge to his audience. There is a great deal of spiritual truth pertinent to that of the priesthood of Jesus which can be seen in Melchizedek.

There is a great deal which can be learned & applied from a proper understanding the ‘types’ in the Bible—A historical occurrence lending explanatory value to weightier matters. Melchizedek, is one of those ‘types.’

However these truths are hard concepts for the writer to get across because of the spiritual condition of his audience. The author has reached an impasse with them as their ability to hear such spiritual truth has become “dulled.” In fact their dullness has effected the writer/speaker to such an extent that his God-called ministry & ability to communicate the truths therein have rendered his usual task of explaining the Gospel difficult or unexplainable.

Heb. 13:17—“Obey those who rule over you, & be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy & not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

The writer’s audience has “become” dull/slow/sluggish/slothful of hearing, which assumes that there was a time in which there was no sluggishness among his readers.

Their ability to heed/listen/apply/understand the more subtle aspects of the Gospel, has been negatively effected since their hearing has been slowed down to a halt.

*An audience in this state of spirituality will misinterpret truth, which in practicality, makes it untruth & proffers it as such. Slothfulness is self-perpetuating.

Minimally, They may....

i)Be Tired(dull) of hearing the same story...Why?

ii)Be Self-satisfied so that they no longer grow...Why?

iii)Assume that the finer points of the good news are unimportant...Why?

iv)Consider the word too complicated so that they trust others to ‘digest’ it & feed it to them. Self-esteem problem?

“Hard to explain/Hard to be uttered”—dusermhneutov—1) Hard to interpret, difficult to explain. Strong—Difficult of explanation:-- Hard to be uttered. Used 1X. From—dus—A prefix conveying the idea of difficulty, opposition, injuriousness, similar to our "mis-" or "un-" prefixes; & —ermhneuw(Eng.—hermaneutics)—1) To explain in words, expound; 2) To interpret—2a) To translate what has been spoken or written in a foreign tongue into the vernacular.

“Dull/Slow”—nwyrov—1) Slow, sluggish, indolent, dull, languid. Not Idle but sluggish, descriptive of constitutional qualities & suggestive of censure. Strong—Sluggish, i.e. (literally) Lazy, or (figuratively) stupid:-- Dull, slothful. Used 2X(both in Hebrews). From— noyov—adj.—1) Illegitimate, bastard; 2) One born, not in lawful wedlock, but of a concubine or female slave.

“Hearing/Learn”—akoh—Hearing (the act, the sense or the thing heard):-- Audience, ear, fame, which you heard, hearing, preached, report, rumor.

Argumentation:

Jn. 1:1-5, 10-13—“In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, & without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, & the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, & the darkness did not comprehend it.”.....“He was in the world, & the world was made through Him, & the world did not know Him. He came to His own, & His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”