Hebrews 5:12
15 February 2026
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, (Hebrews 5:12)
Please turn with me in your Bibles to the Book of Hebrews to chapter 5. We started tackling a new section and every section feels like a series in itself as we work through the Book of Hebrews in Hebrews 5:11 last week. And we're going to read Hebrews 5:11 down to verse 14. And this afternoon we're going to be dealing with most of verse 12. So, we're going to be working through Hebrews chapter five and we'll begin reading at verse 11. This is the word of God.
“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 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, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”. Amen.
Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as we draw near to you in prayer, we pray, O God, that there would be an understanding of the basic and essential foundations of the Christian faith as we come to this crucial passage in a timely moment in our study through the book of Hebrews. Help us, O God, through what is preached to understand what it says in your word and what is to be applied in our lives. For we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
So last week we began this interruption in the latest argument of why Christ is greater and how Christ is the fulfilment with regards to the subject of the priesthood. Because the author to the Hebrews, he stops at this point, just before he's about to get into some of the even deeper teachings in relation to the order of Melchizedek, to check their hearing. And last week, when we were in verse 11, we dealt with the subject of how these people have become dull of hearing. And the dullness of hearing that we dealt with last week is not because there's a problem with their ears as such, it is because of the problem in their hearts. This is a heart problem that the author to the Hebrews is dealing with. And it's not because, oh, they're immature Christians because they've just been introduced to the gospel last month and they need to really start being taught the things of Christianity. No, these are people, the Hebrew Christians, who are familiar with the teachings of Christianity. They hear and have proclaimed the message of the gospel, this biblical truth, that they have been grounded upon, but they have become spiritually apathetic and sluggish. They are spiritual sloths, where we consider that the Word of God as it's going out, as it's being preached and taught, as shepherds are coming to feed the flock, it's not taking root. It doesn't enliven, and enlighten and embolden the people anymore.
And this is the gigantic topic that we're covering all the way to the end of chapter 6. And as we come to verses 12 to 14 of chapter 5, it's really just an unpacking of the weighty exhortation of this dull of hearing issue. That's what verses 12 to 14 is. It's an unpacking of what being dull of hearing means and it is very much an exhortation regarding that subject. Because if you are being told, well your problem is you're dull of hearing. You are a spiritual sluggard. And if you've maybe been thinking and reflecting even on what we were looking at last week in verse 11 and maybe weighing up - Well, might this be me? Am I sitting here in the pews? And I'm listening, but I'm not really listening. It's not really taking root. It's not shaping and driving me forward. Then maybe a key question you might have, well, what then? What do I need to do?
Well, this is what we come to. As we deal with the first part of verse 12 this week, we're going to consider two things. We're going to consider first, as a way of rebuke, where they should be at, and then second, what they need now. So, we're considering first, where they should be at, and then we're going to consider what these dull of hearing, these spiritual sluggards, they need now? Now even if you're sitting here thinking, well I'm not a spiritual sluggard, I sit here take notes and I'm fully attentive to every sermon that's preached from this pulpit, what we're going to be considering not just this week but, in the weeks, to come is still going to be very important for building that understanding of how we do grow to maturity. And in the subsequent verses we deal with, we'll really get into the heart of what spiritual maturity in the Christian faith looks like. But today we're dealing with the rebuke of where they ought to be at, and we're dealing with the what they're needing now part, first of all.
So, as we come to this verse, it begins by saying, for though by this time you ought to be teachers. So, this is the where they should be at. Where they should be at is they ought to be teachers. That's the stage that these Hebrew Christians should be at.
Just scroll your eyes down to Hebrews 6:7, when it says, for land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. Now this is a reference to what the preaching, the proclamation of the Word of God produces. It's like a rain that comes upon the land. It produces something. It produces a crop. It produces this fruit. And therefore, as we see, it is going to be a blessing to cultivate for others.
Now this is exactly what the Hebrew Christians have been blessed by. Think about how the church begins in the New Testament. Because these are the people that we're dealing with. These Christians at this time, they've heard the apostles, the early church leaders proclaiming the gospel. And we see in verses like Acts 2:42, that once they've been saved and they're baptized and they're added to their number, that they devote themselves to the apostles' teaching. They have received the apostles' teaching. They're being built up and grounded in the biblical doctrine of this gospel as it advances at this formative time in history. What a blessing this is for them. That's their heritage. That's who and what they've been. And we look at them, a people who ought to be taught and built up. And we consider also what a blessing it is for us, for any who are Christians, to have this, to have a being taught by the Word of God, to have the opportunity to come together in Christian fellowship, to mature and to grow. This is how these Hebrew Christians, Hebrews 6:5, have tasted the goodness of the Word of God. And as we look at that, as we consider that framework and foundation, well what would we expect from such people? We're looking at Acts 2:42, we're looking at the early church. We'd think, what would we expect to see of them?
These Christians from the Jewish background who've been blessed and had such teaching and investment. We expect fruit. We have this picture of a tree which is the church body. Christ is the root and the branch is producing fruit. That's what we expect to see. But what is so often the case? What is so often the reality? Isaiah 5:4, what more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?
The vineyard where there's been teaching, investment, rooted, grounded. We see what should be the growth to produce these beautiful succulent grapes, the fruit, and what does it produce? Wild grapes. And we look here at the Hebrew Christians. And instead of seeing this beautiful fruit, what do we have instead? Spiritual sloths who are stunted in their spiritual growth, dull of hearing, who ought to be teachers. This is what it should produce, a stage of maturity where they are able to bless others.
Now often you've likely come across people, maybe theology students, people who've studied and known their Bibles, who are teachers, who ought not to be. They know the Word, but it hasn't taken root in their hearts. But here we're dealing with people who are in a position where things have been taught, where an investment has been very much made. And yet this is their spiritual condition.
So, what we're going to do when we consider this first point, where it says, you ought to be teachers, we're going to consider many ways by which there should be fruit that is produced in the life of a professing Christian, as they are being shepherded, as they're being taught and built up. Now the first thing to say, and it just follows on from Acts chapter 2 verse 42 is in Acts 5:42 when it says, every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. And so, the first thing that we need to understand is that when we have this language of you ought to be teachers. This is helping us to understand that when you do grow and are built up in your Christian faith, you should then be in a position to bless and to care for other Christians. That's what should be produced and it should be applied in the life of a local church. So, think about this as a uh principle in mind. You become a believer, you're a new Christian, and you're hearing the Word of God being preached, and you're then being invested in that preaching and teaching by other believers, mature believers. You then grow and mature in your faith. You then become that mature believer, and you then are in a position in different ways to then bless and care for others. That's one of the sacred rich applications of a local church. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 - This is how we can be enabled to equip and build one another up. That's the principle here. The ought to be teachers is not, oh so that you can stand on ceremony and show what an intellectual you are. No, the you ought to be teachers is an exhortation to the Christians in a way by which you should be in a position to be a blessing to others. Being a teacher is not so that you can show off, it is so that you can bless, care for, and invest others. That is the point here.
And again, we think of the mindset towards Christianity. Are we thinking in terms of, what can I get out of it? That's why so often people want their platforms, they want to be standing in pulpits because they want to show that they can teach. What folly. Is there a desire to teach for the building up of the brothers and sisters of the saints within that local church? And that is undoubtedly one of the ways in which the you ought to be teachers can be understood and applied. This isn't saying that every mature Christian should be an elder or a preacher of the Word of God, but it can and should apply to those who are called by God.
And it is a startling thing to consider that there are likely too many wasted potentials in that bracket. Those who may be in their young adult days or those who you saw clearly had that teaching gift. And then what do they do? There's a stunted growth. There's an apathy to the things of God. And they become in that ought to be teachers’ bracket. So just because someone is evidencing maybe the gifting or the capability of preaching the Word and potential for eldership, what is then happening in the building up and maturing of that professing Christian? But this doesn't simply apply to those who may be preachers, teachers one day. This applies to everybody as a Christian, with regards to our understanding and readiness to proclaim the Word. 1 Peter 3:15, it says, but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy. Note, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.
So, as you consider the Christian faith that you have and the settings that the Lord would place you in, maybe people you will see tomorrow morning, people you work with, people that you're serving with in whatever capacity who do not know Christ. Are you ready, always ready to make a defence to any who would ask you of that Christian faith that you have? of that reason why you were at church yesterday. Are you ready?
This certainly means there's a boldness to say, I'm a Christian and I follow Jesus Christ. Absolutely that's at the heart of it. But do you have a hunger and a desire in the maturing of your Christian faith to be more ready to answer potential objections? To be more equipped in being able to explain and articulate the truth of the gospel? Because if you're sound asleep on the Lord's Day, and you're too busy on your phone or you're too busy thinking about other things and you're not being built up and maturing in your Christian faith. Then when it comes to the Monday morning and someone's asking, why were you at church yesterday? What?
Do we understand what it is that we're doing here? This is why as we considered last week in Hebrews 5:11, this is a spiritual discipline of even preparing our hearts to hear the preaching of the Word of God and preparing our hearts to worship the living God? Do we come with that seriousness of the sacredness of what we come to do? Because this is how we're built up, where we ought to be in this stage of maturity.
Now other ways in which this you ought to be can be applied in different areas. For example, in relation to others in our church, we have principles of older men teaching younger men. Titus 2:2, it says, older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. And it goes on in verses 6 to 8 saying, Likewise, urge the younger men. So, note this, the older men in this position of having a degree of teaching and investing, urge the younger men to be self-controlled, show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.
Note this, in your teaching, by your character, by your Christian maturity, you can be and should be a blessing to others. Think of the example you are as you become an older man and someone who has been a professing Christian for more and more months and years and years, even decades, and what is your witness and example? You're one who ought to be this, and yet you're a dull of hearing spiritual sloth.
Think of that witness and how stunted the growth of the church would be if those who ought to be in that position of maturity and in the position of being a blessing to others are the very example of the problem that is being addressed here in Hebrews chapter 5.
This is a principle also applied with regards to the teaching example and testimony and ways by which older women invest in younger women too. We've got Titus 2:3-5. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behaviour, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young woman to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
There is a maturing within the context of the life of the church which applies in the life of the family, which shapes the understanding and the grounding by which you grow. And then you can be not only one who is investing in that family, but in your church family. This is where the you ought to be principle is applied to older men, younger men, younger men, older men, older woman to younger woman, and also with regards to specifically the subject of the family. In teaching your children, Proverbs 22:6, train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Deuteronomy 6:7, you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise.
That's significant brothers and sisters. You think, well, what's that got to do with what you ought to be in your spiritual maturity? Think of the calling that you have as a godly Christian in your witness to unbelievers. Think of your godly calling as maybe an older man and an older woman to younger men and younger women, and think of your calling as a father and as a mother in your responsibility in raising your children, training them up in the ways of the Lord. If you're a spiritual sloth and you do not know and barely care about the teachings and truths of the Word of God, then what? What will become of that? What will become of the next generation of professing Christians or those inquiring of biblical Christianity?
These things matter. Because this is a people who, let's remember, have been invested in. And they've been invested in the truth of the Bible, the glory of the Gospel, the application in the life of the church. And what are they now wanting to do? They're wanting to go back to the fleshly reliance on the Old Testament system. Effectively, ultimately, they're relying on themselves and not Christ.
Now this is where we really get once more to the heart of the gospel in this subject. And this is our second point that we're going to draw out as a way of not just following up what we've seen, but to really see the application. When we come now to this subject of what you need. What do you then need if, for example, you're a spiritual sloth or you're stunted in your spiritual growth? Well, verse 12 goes on to say, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.
Now it's interesting that the author uses the phrase, oracles of God. This is a phrase that appears in other places. For example, Romans 3:2, it says that the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 1 Peter 4:11 begins, whoever speaks as one who speaks, oracles of God. This basically means what God has spoken and revealed. And we need to know the basic principles of what God has said. And even more striking is that Stephen, just before he is martyred in Acts 7, states this in Acts 7:38, and he writes of Moses that he received living oracles to give to us. Note this, especially any who may be dull of hearing. Living oracles. And that is the time when God gave the law to His people. Now we know that the law condemned sinful man and yet despite being the ministry of condemnation as we see in 2 Corinthians 3, it is yet still described by Stephen as living oracles. Because the God of wrath and justice is the God of mercy and life and His Word is life. And this is what we need to grasp. It's not simply a case of saying, okay, well, if you're a spiritual sloth, then you need to get back to the basics. Yes, we absolutely need to get back to the basics, the ABCs of the Christian faith and understand the foundations upon which we stand, but we need to understand and hear with our hearts that these are living truths, to pray that we wouldn't simply be hearing things that we've heard many times before. I heard it in Sunday school decades ago. I've heard it for many years. I know the gospel. But again, the question is, do you know this and know that these are living oracles of the living God?
1 Peter 1:23 begins, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. That's how the chapter ends. This word which was preached to you. And we consider this back in chapter 4 of Hebrews. The Word of God is living and active. And so there should be an efficacy, a power to this because it is alive and it is true. It means there's an authority to this. And we know the enemy seeks to take the living out of the oracles of God, to dull our spiritual senses. So, Satan is happy to take the scriptures. He did it himself. He used them, he quoted them, and he abused them, as long as Christ is out of the equation, as long as the gospel is missing. Deuteronomy 32:47 says, for it is no empty word for you, but your very life. And by this word, you shall live long in the land that you're going over the Jordan to possess.
When the author here in verse 12 says, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. These oracles are living. They're alive. That's the first thing we need to understand. This is not something that is arbitrary or dormant. This is something that is alive. It is active. It is true. It is about your God. That's the first thing. And if we don't feel and see and understand the sense of the urgency of this, of the truth of this, of the relevance of this, then this is the first problem with regards to the dullness of hearing. Because as we come to this subject of the basic principles of these oracles, the basic principles. This language is very much dealing with what will unpack further the spiritual milk that we all need as Christians. This is why, for example, catechizing not just children but adults is such an important thing in the life of a church, in the life of a Christian family. Why? Because we like to be some 17th century wannabes? No, absolutely not. Because this is grounded in knowing doctrine, knowing truth.
As a Christian who comes face to face, spiritually speaking, with the recognition and the realization of your sin before the living God, and that there is a Saviour from sin. There is a Saviour to salvation and eternal life with this God. As you come to a true understanding, a conviction, and a faith in this. These basic principles, which is the very gospel upon which we stand and we believe. When the author says here that we need to be taught again these basic principles, that is exactly what you need if you are spiritually apathetic. Because the issue so often as we thought about last week is that people in their minds think - Okay, well I already know and understand the Gospel. What's next? Okay, well I get the thing about Christianity with regards to Christ, but then what about the applications in these areas of my life? And effectively what you see in practice are people who are bored and disinterested by the gospel. This was something that Mike and I experienced with a couple last year. They said as a way of rebuke that our church keeps preaching the gospel and they said quote, will we know the gospel? What are you expecting? What do you want to hear from a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?
This is crucial, brothers and sisters. And we see this in examples in Scripture. For example, the parable of the lost son. In the parable of the lost son, this younger son, and it can also certainly be applied to the older son, they've got the father. They've got what they need. They are so blessed. And yet, what do we find? Well, one son, the younger one, he thinks there is a grass being greener on the other side situation. So, I don't need you, Father. There's going to be something better for me elsewhere." And he soon quickly realizes as he's sitting in the filth of his own sinful muck. No, it's not. And with the older son, who's not happy with the merciful celebration of the Father embracing his younger son, who's come back with a heart of repentance, he hasn't had the stuff. He wants the extras. When He has everything already in having the Father, both of them do not see the richness and beauty of what is before them, how they are so richly blessed. And that's the question when it comes to these basic principles of the oracles of God. Do you realize and understand that these basic principles are why and how you are so blessed in every part of your life? Every single part of your life.
And if we're thinking, oh well, I need to move past this and find something better. Because maybe I can get more in-depth answers on how to be a better husband from a podcast. Or maybe I can find out about how to deal with my toddler better from some books that have been written elsewhere. Or maybe I can go to someone who really knows about how to make me a more calm person. Brothers and sisters, what you need is Christ. What you need is the gospel. and to see that He satisfies everything of your wants, needs, and desires. Because the key heart issue that you have every week as you come into this place is not, well if I can just sort out this problem with my family, sort out this problem with my workplace, sort out this problem with my character, then I'll be fine. No, every week you come into this building bringing the baggage of sin. The mess you've made of sin in the way you've lost your temper, with your lust, with your greed, your idolatry. What a sorry sight of a sinner you are. And what do you need? Not the preacher of the word to act like some self-help guru to give you practical tips on this, that and the other. No, you need to be reminded of the glory of the gospel and the richness of being saturated in Jesus Christ. That's what these basic principles are. If you're spiritually apathetic, if you've become a spiritual sluggard, you need to see and savour the beauty of Jesus Christ. That's what you need.
And this is exactly what is being driven home, not simply in this section of the Book of Hebrews, but the entire book. The entire book has been about paying more careful attention, considering Jesus, being watchful and seeing, knowing, understanding Christ. Do you understand and believe that knowing, seeing, and savoring Christ will make you a more equipped and built-up believer? It will shape and mature you as a husband, father, wife, mother, as a Christian witness, as an ambassador for Christ. If Christ is not at the centre of the equation, then all of the exhortations and commands you're given in all aspects of your life, they don't make sense. That's why people who are maybe attracted to conservative values that look very close to Christianity, it is a shallow mess without Christ.
Christless conservativism on one level or liberal woke ideologies on another, whichever way we turn, if Christ is not the heartbeat of every aspect of our lives, then we are but those who are dull of hearing and we need to be taught these basic principles. Christ is how we navigate every aspect of our lives. We never move past that. We never lose sight of that. And this is the grounding by which we must stand in order to then grow and mature in our Christian walk. Think back to what we saw earlier of the you ought to be teachers in the context of whether it be elders or preachers, whether it be as evangelists, whether it be as mature men and women, as parents and so on. All of the aspects of Christian character all the aspect of Christian application in your life. It's because of the gospel. It is because of the gospel. And this is where we're going to close to consider the very message of the gospel and how this produces these branches and this glorious succulent fruit.
Because when you, again, reminding of this, are coming face to face in the Scriptures, with who you are. And who are you? You are a fallen sinner in rebellion against God. And when you come to terms with this in Scripture by the grace of God, that you cannot do anything to save yourself, and that it is only by God's Son coming to this earth, living a sinless life, and laying down that life for you, the broken, undeserving sinner, taking your sin upon himself, suffering, bleeding and dying to cleanse you of your sin, that you may be freely forgiven and justified in the sight of God upon Christ's righteousness alone by repenting and believing in this Saviour. This changes every aspect of your life. And this gospel are the basic principles by which you grow. Because knowing, understanding, being reminded of and living according to this, then shapes your character. How can it be by any other way than by the glory of the gospel that any day of your life is not the biggest wretched mess imaginable? How can you possibly imagine the way you can treat another person that would be in any way remotely that of a Christian if it's not for Christ? What is your reliance tomorrow morning as you go to your workplace if it is not entirely upon Christ? How can you go about this in your own strength? Yes, we know what folly that is. As Christians, we already know we're fallen sinners and that takes us to hell. We've been rescued and redeemed by this and for this Saviour. And so, we look to this Saviour and we pray for that renewing in the spirit of our minds, Ephesians 4:23.
This is what the basic principles of the oracles of God are all about. Because if we don't have Christ in view, if He is not the foundation, there will be stunted growth. There will be an apathy to the teaching of the Scriptures, for example, in the Lord's Day and others. We'll look elsewhere because we're not seeing and finding and savoring it in Christ. That is where it was found, known, believed and understood. And brothers and sisters, what a joy it is to know that this Lord and Saviour whom you look to is the living act of Saviour today who is living, reigning on the throne. We know that Christ is the risen and exalted Saviour. He's conquered sin and death. We know He will return. We know that one day every knee will bow confessing Christ as Lord. We know these things and we look to this and this is what we pray would stir us up, would build us up as the people of God. And this is where the dullness of hearing stunted growth spiritual issue is addressed. By hearing and being reminded week after week after week this gospel, this glorious truth. If you've got an issue in your life that you're really looking for practical answers, it's not somewhere over here and Christ's there. Everything is grounded and rooted in Christ. These basic principles. And as you stand upon this, as you grow in the knowledge, in the joy, in the trust in this, as you deal with the different issues and applications in your life, it is grounded and rooted in the basic principles of the oracles of God, which is found entirely in Christ. This is how that works. That is how fruit is displayed. Any other supposed fruit is just wild grapes, the vineyard from Isaiah.
And often people who seem to look the part and they seem to know their stuff in this area over there or this application over here, it's just wild grapes. And this is why, before we even get to the solid food for the mature of verse 14, all of us need to first grapple with and reconcile, but we need to be taught the basic principles of the oracles of God. We need to know and see with a desperation and an earnestness the one who tasted the native waters of this earth in order to taste and savour the eternal life that we have in Him. That's what we have in Christ. And so therefore, what we need is milk, spiritual milk. These basic foundations, these ABCs of the Christian faith, which we never move on past, which we never outgrow. We stand upon, we live upon, and this is the means by which we then grow to maturity, where we are not ought to be teachers, we will become those who are apt and ready to teach and to bless others as mature believers, because we know Christ. Christ has taken a hold of us. Christ has shaped and transformed us, and He is transforming us in our faith and maturity as those whose trust is entirely in Him. Let's pray together.
Oh Father, we come to you in prayer and we do ask that for the dull of hearing, for the spiritual sloth, that even this very hour, you would be doing a mighty work by your Spirit to shake us up, to strengthen, equip and mature us in a way by which is not devoid of or moving past the basic principles of the oracles of God, but may it be by looking to knowing proclaiming, seeing, and savouring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, what a foundation, what a Lord and Saviour we know and worship. And we pray that it would be the very truth and glory of the gospel, that we would never tire of hearing, that we would be all the more desperate to hear and to know and to live according to. Oh, Father, may it shape us in the way by which we are able to teach, to give an account of our faith. by which we are able to bless, encourage, and equip others. Lord, use us in such a way because we worship such a Saviour, the one we know, worship, and praise this day, Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose name we pray. Amen.