Spiritual Obtuseness
W. Jones Hebrews 5:11-14 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of hearing.… Of whom we have many things to say, etc. In treating of the analogy between the priesthood of Melchizedek and that of Christ, the writer was hindered by the spiritual obtuseness of his readers. "We have many things to say, and difficult of interpretation, seeing ye are become dull of hearing." The writer found it difficult to explain his subject to them, because they were so dull and slow in their apprehension. Notice - I. SPIRITUAL OBTUSENESS IS SOMETIMES VERY GREAT. It was so in the case of the persons here addressed, as may be seen by contrasting what they might anti ought to have been and. what they were. They should, have been able to have taught others; they really needed teaching themselves, and that of the most elementary kind. "When ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God." They required instructing again in "the beginnings of the beginning" of Christian doctrine. Moreover, when they should have been men in spiritual intelligence, they were only babes. "And are become such as have need of milk," etc. It is pitiful and painful to reflect upon the prevalence of spiritual obtuseness in our own age. How many Christians are perfectly content and self-satisfied having only the barest rudiments of Scripture truth! Some even pride themselves in holding "the truth," as though they had grasped and mastered all truth; and in their firm adherence to "the simple gospel," as though there were no profundities and sublimities in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We fear that the Bible is far more widely circulated than read, and far more extensively read than studied or understood. II. SPIRITUAL OBTUSENESS IS SOMETIMES SINFUL. We say "sometimes;" for when this dullness of perception or difficulty of apprehension arises from original deficiency of faculty, or from the scarcity of opportunities for progress in acquaintance with Christian truth, no moral blame attaches to it. It is deplorable, but not censurable. To whom only little is given, of him only little will be required. But in the case before us the writer says, "For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers," etc. Let us look at the argument expressed or implied here. 1. Time and opportunities for progress had been given to them. "By reason of the time" since they became Christians they should have made sufficient advancement to have been able to have instructed others. Therefore the time must have been considerable. 2. There should have been a proportion between the opportunities afforded and the progress made. This is clearly implied in the text. It is also righteous and reasonable. 3. The existence of spiritual obtuseness notwithstanding opportunities of progress is morally wrong. Such spiritual dullness is not a misfortune, but a sin. It is an evidence of opportunities of progress neglected, of responsibilities unacknowledged or unfulfilled, and, it may be, of sins indulged in. Purity of heart and the power of perceiving spiritual truth are closely related. Slowness of spiritual apprehension often arises from the corruption of the heart. The pure heart is quick and true in its perceptions. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." "If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God." Worldliness of spirit also dims and diminishes the perceptive powers of the soul. If a man's eyes are ever fixed upon the earth, how can he see the brilliance and beauty of the starry heavens? If a man's affections are fixed upon the material and perishable things of this present world, he will gradually lose his power for perceiving the ethereal and perennial beauty of religious truth, or even for perceiving such truth at all. III. SPIRITUAL OBTUSENESS INVOLVES SERIOUS LOSS. 1. Loss to the community. In cases like that mentioned in the text, the obtuse persons ought to be able to teach others, at least the elementary truths of Christianity. Parents should be able to instruct their children; the Christian should be able to help his friend who is seeking for life and truth, etc. 2. Loss to the individual. The man of dull spiritual apprehension loses the fuller and higher teaching. The full beauty of the landscape is not for the man of diseased or impaired physical vision. In like manner the beauty and sublimity of Divine truth and the serene splendors of holiness are invisible to those who are spiritually obtuse. Or, changing the figure, the food of moral manhood is not for them; they are unable to assimilate it, and must needs be limited to the dietary of babyhood. Several practical and profitable reflections arise from our subject. 1. The need of adaptation in Christian teaching. The sacred writings contain "milk for babes," "solid food for full-grown men," and food suited for all the intermediate stages of the Christian life. The wise teacher will endeavor to distribute to each the food suited to his condition. 2. The obligatoriness of progress in Christian discipleship. Infancy has its charms, but not as a permanent state. Infancy must pass on by orderly development into manhood. Continuous spiritual infancy is unnatural and sinful. A permanent milk diet in the spiritual life indicates a stationariness which is unhealthy and culpable (cf. Ephesians 4:11-15). 3. In the mature stage of Christian life there is the qualification for the exercise of discrimination in spiritual things. "Full-grown men by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil." Their spiritual faculties are trained and disciplined, and so they are able to distinguish between the true and false, the superior and the inferior, in Christian teaching. Alas, that the people who are least mature are generally the most forward in exercising this critical function! 4. We see why the ministry of the gospel is sometimes comparatively ineffectual. In some instances the smallness of its success is owing to the want of adaptation in the ministry itself; in others, to the sinful and almost insuperable spiritual obtuseness of the hearers thereof. - W.J. Parallel Verses KJV: Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. WEB: About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.