FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE FIRST
PRINCIPLES – XVII
THE WORD
OF RIGHTEOUSNESS - 1
Hebrews 5:5 So also Messiah glorified not himself to be made an high priest;
but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchisedec.
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 to save him
from death, and was heard in that he feared;
8 Though
he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
9 And
being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him;
10 Called
of IAUE an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
11 Of whom
we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of
hearing.
12 For
when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of IAUE; and are become such
as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For
every one that uses milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a
babe.
Last week we ended with this
comment:
We were created to do
the will of IAUE. If our lives are
devoted to any other purpose,we should fear lest the
grace to repent and be restored to the will of IAUE is forever denied us. This is not a game, this discipleship to the
Master Yahushua Messiah. This is the time within
which we demonstrate whether or not we are worthy to be made partakers both of his
glory and of the glory of the kingdom of IAUE.
Christianity
has fallen into such malaise that its adherents are oblivious to how far they
are missing the mark of genuine discipleship.
They retain the right to rule over their own lives. They ignore the need to hear and heed the
voice of the Holy Spirit. They have
little regard for knowing and doing the will of IAUE, especially if it runs
counter to their own will. They have no
fear of IAUE; in fact, they cannot really even comprehend a reason to fear Him.
They are, however, exceedingly willing to have IAUE bless their coming and
going, to meet their every need and to insure they do not have to suffer any
measure or manner of hardship in this life.
Yes, I know that does not characterize all believers. I call the ones it does not characterize, the
2-percenters. It is to the 2% of Christianity and for them that this entire
blog was begun and has continued to this day.
There
is so much that can be said regarding our opening passage of Scripture; but I
will try to focus on the aspect that forms the basis for the conclusion of our
study of the First Principles of the teachings of Messiah; but notice, first,
in verse 7, that even the prayers and supplications of Yahushua, the Messiah,
were heard and answered because he feared IAUE. If the son of IAUE fears his own father, how
much more should we learn the reasons to fear Him, and join him in this sacred
attitude?
Hebrews 5:10 Called of IAUE an high
priest after the order of Melchisedec.
11 Of whom we have many
things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
The writer would like to
expand on his remarks regarding the order of Messiah’s high priesthood but
knows he cannot. It would be just so
many words going in one ear and out the other.
Why? Because his readers are “dull of hearing.”
Where else in Scripture have we seen this concept?
Matthew 13:13 Therefore
speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand.
14 And in
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15 For this
people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their
eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them. (See
also, Acts 28:25-27)
Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Notice
the connection between a hardened heart and the inability to hear. We covered this concept heavily in the
Kingdom Heart series. If the heart is
not soft and pliable and responsive to the will of IAUE and to the voice of His
Spirit, it becomes hardened in order to allow us to pursue our own selfish
interests. Our ability to hear the voice
of the Spirit is directly proportional to the purpose of our heart to do the
will of IAUE if and when and whenever we should hear and discern it. Many believers do not want to be able to hear
the voice of the Spirit because they know that once having heard it, they would
become accountable for their obedience to it.
So,
the writer to the Hebrews tells his audience that he cannot elaborate any
further on the priestly order of Melchisedek because he knows they are hard of
heart and dull of hearing. How does he
know that?
Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye
ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first
principles of the oracles of IAUE; and are become such as have need of milk,
and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that uses
milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
He
knows it because they are incapable of digesting the solid food of the Spirit;
because they are still babes.
This
word “babes” is an interesting word in the
Greek. There are three words in the
Greek manuscripts that are rendered “children” in the New Testament. They are, “nepios,” “technon.” and “huios,”
and they represent stages of growth and development. The nepios are the infants who cannot even speak,
yet. The technon are the juveniles who are
growing but are yet in need of supervision.
The huios are the full grown adult sons who are qualified to work in
their fathers’ business. In the above
passage, the Hebrews are referred to as nepios, non-speaking infants. Oh, they can muster up enough noise to be
heard and spin a tale or two; but because they are spiritually infantile, their
chatter makes about as much sense as the unintelligible cries of a baby. (There are many who are pastors of churches
that stand every Sunday before their congregations and babble the unintelligible
utterances of the spiritual nepios. It
is little wonder their congregations show no signs of maturing.)
This
Scripture reveals that the primary thing that keeps believers as spiritual
infants is their inexperience with “the word of righteousness.”
Entire books have been written on the subject of righteousness; and yet most
believers do not even know what it is.
We will discuss it in some detail, next week; but for now I want to
remind you that revelation does not come as a result of study. Doctrine comes from study; and though there
is benefit in learning doctrine, it is revelation that changes your life. Revelation, also, cannot be maintained
without a commitment to pay the price for its possession. If we fail in our part to be worthy of
revelation, even what we have can be taken from us. It can migrate into doctrine and become
lifeless information.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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