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As if the apostle had said, "When, for the time that you have professed the Christian faith, you ought to have been able to be teachers of it to others, you had need yourselves to be instructed in the first rudiments of the Christian religion, and are become such as have need of milk, the food of babes, and not of strong meat, the food of men."
Learn hence, 1. That the time when, and how long we enjoy the dispensation of the gospel, is a circumstance which must, in particular, be accounted for; whereas for the time, all have time, but all have not time alike. The day of the gospel is not of the same light to all nations, churches, and persons.
Learn, 2. That it is reasonably expected by God that persons should thrive and grow in knowledge and holiness, proportionably to their time and means; and not doing so, is charged upon them as a great aggravation of their guilt: For the time ye ought to have been teachers; that is, of ability sufficent for the teaching of others. They had not learned of their teachers, when the apostle had reason to hope they had been able to teach their learners. Many, after long teaching, are ignorant, and ought to be taught again the same things which they long ago heard.
Learn, 3. That the holy Scriptures are to be looked upon, consulted with, and submitted to, as the oracles of God; they are sometimes called the living, sometimes the lively oracles of God; because they are the oracles of the living God, and also life-giving oracles to them that obey them.
Learn, 4. That there are, in the Scripture, truths suitable to the spiritual instruction and edification of all sorts of persons; there is in it both milk and strong meat, plain doctrines, and first principles necessary for all, and truths of a deeper search that are profitable to some. "In the Scripture, said one, there are shallows and there are depths; fords where the lambs may wade, and depths where the elephants may swim."