Are You Dull of Hearing?

Pastor David preached on the end of Hebrews 5, where the writer turns to his audience and in one sense rebukes them for not progressing in the faith:

"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."

Now this turning point in the writer-preacher's sermon is important because it illustrates the depth of what he has just said on how Jesus is our high priest. Many in that time who came to the faith identified and understood Jesus as their savior, but many were likely not understanding Christ's dual role as High Priest and the significance of that in relation to the Old Testament. An analogy can be made to those Christians today who claim they are saved (and may very well be so, by God's grace) but only hold to such knowledge at a very elementary level.

Pastor David also referenced Jesus explaining the parable of the sower to the disciples when speaking of those who have become dull of hearing:

"10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.
15 For this people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’


The term "dull of hearing" in the Greek means a type of lethargy, a listlessness that is not just physical, but spiritual. Oftentimes when we think of someone being lethargic, we identify it as a physical condition, not a mental or spiritual one--yet in that lies our downfall. The pleasures of this world gradually hinder our ability to hear and understand spiritual things, because it takes our focus off what is truly important.

A good analogy would be actual loss of hearing: ask anyone in their late 20s or 30s who has lost most of his or her hearing due to listening to music very loud when they were younger, and they will tell you that it didn't happen all at once. They would probably tell you that they listened louder and louder so that they could continue to hear it. So it is with us and the world--the world shows us pleasures and desires and we "turn it up" a little more with each passing instance, while discernment for spiritual things is neglected and our hearing/understanding for it is dulled.

This can happen gradually for us, as we let certain worldly influences and pleasures (TV, things we read, ambitions) desensitize us to our neglect of our walk with Christ. We should not be still on the milk of the faith, but we are, and have not moved on to the meat. In Isaiah 28:9, it says: “To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? In the next verse it emphasizes how things are built concept upon concept--just like with any other idea structure in life. Theology must be studied to understand the depth and riches of the knowledge of Christ--to understand His salvation more fully, one must grasp the concepts of justification and sanctification and know the distinction.

In being encouraged to move from milk to meat, Pastor David brought out two points or two questions to ask ourselves in seeing whether we are dull of hearing:

1. Can we teach, can we defend the faith?

Now this certainly doesn't mean that we are to become apologists for the faith on a professional level, able to do battle with the fiercest haters of the faith, but it does mean that we should be able to give a reason for the hope that we have in a well thought out response. Does it need to have catch words or certain phrases--perhaps, but the understanding of it should be there--simply saying "God says so" or "that's just what I believe" will not cut it. And it shouldn't, since if we love God and His commandments we should say as David did in Psalm 1, his delight is in the law [2] of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.


2. Does your love of the world and its pleasures keep you from understanding the doctrines of grace?

Sometimes people will often identify the worst sins in the world and quickly think better of themselves than they should. What do I mean by that? Some Christian will say, well I don't murder, cheat on my spouse, etc, so I'm not sinning in such a way that I'm being kept from any understanding! But when did you look a little too long at something you shouldn't have? When did you watch that movie or read that book that degraded or cheapened the faith in your eyes, causing you unconsciously to deny the Gospel and become dull? Such influences and worldly pleasures can make us unable to discern good from evil--we can rationalize and say the entertainment or habit or activity wasn't THAT bad while each time we keep pushing the line we shouldn't cross further and further back.

In addition, such pleasures or desires don't have to be inherently sinful in and of themselves--I'll speak to men for a minute. Is the amount of time that you spend working on your car, your lawn, your job, or golf game stealing from the time you need to be devoting to the Word? There is nothing wrong with ANY of those things, but when we elevate ANYTHING above our desire for Christ, making those things the object of our most attention, we become dull of hearing because we are drawn away from the teaching of the Word to these things which occupy our thoughts.

There's a great line from the Caedmon's Call song (You Created)that goes like this:

"But You created nothing That gives me more pleasure than You"

And this is true! We may try to fill our lives with various things that we think will give us more pleasure, but in the end they will all disappoint--and these things draw us away from the Father and make us dull of His graces!

Now, one caveat to all of this about studying theology and the Word--knowledge can be a great and powerful thing to the believer, as the level of knowledge can directly correlate to the assurance a believer can have (for example, a deeper assurance might be had, by the grace of God, if one understands election). HOWEVER, knowledge cannot be pursued for its own sake--it MUST be couched in a love for the Father and His Son Christ. Apart from it, one may love the study of the object rather than the object of the study--one may look at some scientists who are so interested in researching various forms of cancer that they forget the REASON they are doing so, which is to find a cure.

Jesus is not content to leave us where we are--we were not saved to simply sit on Christ's laurels and wait for heaven, living as if nothing had changed--we are called to advance in the faith, in knowledge and in truth. We must attend to the Word, that by His work and grace we are called to grow in this knowledge and serve Him, not sit and home and watch TV that is at best "neutral" and at worst detrimental to our faith.

Pastor David concluded with Hebrews 6:11-12:

11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Christian, get up from your spiritual sluggishness, and hear the Word today!