Maturity

Have you ever planted a tree? When I was small I planted a pecan tree that I took out of my great grandmothers yard. I dug it up took it home and dug a whole in my front yard put a little fertilizer in the hole and filled in the whole with dirt and watered it. Every so often I would water it and fertilize it. And for years I would watch it grow. every year it got bigger and bigger and all of a sudden it started to have a few pecans and every year there were a few more. I loved getting my pecans every year and I also enjoyed the shade it provided on a hot sunny day and it would also keep my basketball from rolling down the street when I missed the backboard. you plant a tree and give it a little bit of attention and it grows and becomes such a blessing to those around it. I also planted a lot of fence post growing up. My grandpa owned a family fence company (that was in business for 50 years) and so we all did our share of putting up fence. I have dug more post holes than I care to remember. The thing about fence post is that you don’t have to give them any attention at all. In fact you can throw all the fertilizer and water you want at a fence post and guess what it does not do a thing. In fact a fence post eventually just rots away

ASK YOURSELF THE QUESTION: WHICH ONE REPRESENTS ME AS A CHRISTIAN? Am I a tree that is growing and blessing others or am I a fence post and am slowly rotting away and not accomplishing anything for the Lord or others. Here is the real kicker though. You might think you are tree but you are really a fence post. you might think you are a fence post but you are really a tree. So how do you know? How do you know if you are a tree that is growing spiritually and being a blessing to others or a post that is just rotting away?

The writer of Hebrews actually addresses this in passage this morning Heb. 5:11-14. He gives us 6 way test for us to see if we are growing spiritually. You see these Jewish Christians were not growing in their faith or walk with Jesus instead they were thinking about turning back. The writer has just spoken about Jesus being the High priest and king according to the order of Melchizedek but he cant go one because they are dull of hearing, they are infants, babes in Christ, immature. they are not pressing on to maturity (6:1). they are still stuck on the elementary principles. They can’t handle solid hearty spiritual food. They are not growing why?

We are not growing if the bible is just as difficult as it always has been. The writer says I have much to to say, and it is hard to expo;lain because you are dull of hearing. H e wants so badly to tell them more about Jesus as their priest and king bu they have not matured. What about you, you ever feel like your just not getting it, you feel like some of the elementary teaching regarding Christ are still hard to understand. Don’t get me wrong here, there are some very difficult things to understand in scripture. 2 Peter 3:15–16 “and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”

We are not growing spiritually if Jesus is not as exciting to me as he should be. The wonderful redemptive work of Jesus had become dull to them, mundane, not exciting, they had become lazy, ceasing to grow 2 Peter 1:5 “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,” 2 Peter 1:8 “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” You can just here the preacher preaching about Jesus week after week about him being better than the angels aronic priesthood and moses etc. we get it already we understand can you please just move on. If hearing about Jesus doesn’t get you all jazzed up, if you can get excited about Jesus sitting at the right hand of the father talking to him on our behalf, there is a problem. ARE YOU MORE EXCITED ABOUT JESUS THAN YOU EVER HAVE BEEN? You need to talk about the church more, well you take Christ out of the church and there is no church. It’s a body without a head, a kingdom without a king, a flock without the shepherd. It’s just a social club. The church exist because of Christ its his church he bought it and paid for it with his own blood. if you are not excited about Jesus then you will never be excited about his church.

We are not growing spiritually if we are contributing to the teacher shortage in the church, if we are not teaching others about Jesus. if we are growing we will be telling others about Jesus. We can and will share our faith, share what we learn, share how we became a christian, our story. God has the “timetable,” we do not; but we are to be teaching regardless of the degree we are capable: personal work, tracts, classroom, preaching, etc.

We are not growing spiritually if we have to be taught all over again. note the word again you need someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God - God message whether written or verbal and specifically the O.T. and I think the O.T. passages referring to the Christ 2 Corinthians 3:13–18 “and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Jesus is the spiritual meaning of the Hebrew scriptures. Jesus himself said in Luke 24:44–45 “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,” He showed them where the Hebrew scriptures like Psalm 2, Psalm 8, Psalm 95, Psalm 110. and others were speaking about Him. At this point they should be able to teach others Christianity using the O.T. but they were seeing through their old Jewish eyes. You see we today when we leave paganism, Islam, Judaism, Catholicism, worldliness, selfishness, or other corrupted systems we often have difficulty fully embracing Christ, his total authority, his redemptive work, and his teaching because we are trying to hold on what we were supposed to have abandoned.

We are not growing spiritually if I find it difficult to apply the bible to my circumstances in life. The bible tells what to believe, how to behave, and what we are to be 2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” what should I believe about this…how should I behave when this happens…what sort of person should I be (father /mother/husband/wife/son/daughter/employee/employer) they have the power to discern or distinguish between good and evil - trained by constant practice

We are not growing spiritually if we I am struggling with my ethics - what is right and wrong - what I ought to do or ought not to do. distinguishing between good and evil. abortion, divorce, homosexuality, politics - what should we believe, how should we behave, what should we be. We cannot let culture dictate our belief system. Jesus and His word does. We have a problem if we are not growing in our study, use, and application of the scriptures.

what can you do if you find yourself a fence post this morning? I want to leave you with good news. you don’t have to stay that way. you can start growing and move on from the elementary principles Hebrews 6:3 “And this we will do, if God permits.” Hebrews 6:9 “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.” 3 essentials for spiritual growth

the rock - faith in Jesus Matthew 16:16–18 “Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

the re-bar strength to the footing patience - endurance - perseverance

concrete = hope holds it all together

believe in Jesus, hold on to Jesus, hope in living with Jesus

time advancement knowledge exercise.