You Don't Need to Be An Expert.

I want to begin this morning by asking you a series of questions (it is okay for you to answer out loud this morning)

Do you know our Mission Statement?

Building Lives to Know and Live for Jesus Christ.

Where does this mission statement come from?

Matthew 28:19–20 (NASB95)

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

What is the command here?

It is not “go” it is “make disciples”

“Go” is a participle meaning while you are going…the Bible assumes you are actively engaged in going.

Who is commanded to make disciples?

Every believer

How are disciples made?

Teach them to observe (to do)

Colossians 1:28 (NASB95)

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Who is the we in that verse?

Every believer...

What is the goal of our proclamation of Christ?

To present every man complete (mature) in Christ.

Admittedly that is a huge task…one that takes the power of the Holy Spirit working in us…that is why Paul says in Colossians 1:29 “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

Building Lives to Know and Live for Jesus Christ

Who is the implied subject in that statement?

Every member and faithful attender of Open Door...

But here is the problem that I think plagues every church, including this one....

“Making disciples” has been professionalized to the point that many believers simply pass it off to the “experts”.

Who are the “experts”?

The pastors, the elders...

In my 30 plus years of ministry I have heard every excuse in the book for why believers fail to get involved in the discipleship of others.

The most common thread amongst all those groups and churches stems from a mindset that the discipleship of others is really what we pay the pastor to do…

“I’m comfortable with the status quo…don’t ask me to do stuff I have no desire to do…I’m content to just come on Sunday for an hour, maybe 2 but don’t expect much more of me...

Those are some of the more blunt answers spoken directly to me, while others coyly mask that view with statements like...

“I wouldn’t know where to begin or what to do”

“I don’t know the Bible well enough”

“I’m afraid they’ll ask a question I can’t answer”

The reason why I think they have that “I’ll leave it to the experts” mindset is they never take steps to change!

This morning we come to the end of Hebrews 5, where the writer of Hebrews makes a shocking announcement...

He’s been teaching them about the high priesthood of Jesus Christ, and has twice mentioned that Christ is a high priest forever “in the order of Melchizedek” (verses 6 & 10). He’d like to say more about this amazing subject, but he can’t.

His reason? He says, “It’s hard to explain.”

It’s not that he’s exhausted his knowledge of the subject, for he’ll actually return to his discussion of Melchizedek in chapter 7.

He pushes the pause button for a moment because he’s afraid this vital, life-changing truth about Jesus is going to be lost on them…why?

It boiled down to a very basic problem, namely that his readers were old enough spiritually to be discipling others, but they can’t because they can’t go any further than the surface truths…

They are stuck on a diet of milk when they should be eating steak!

So how do you help Christians who are old enough in the Lord that they ought to be able to disciple others, but can’t because they choose to not learn anymore than they have to...

Sadly, that is not a problem that died out in the first century…

I plead with you this morning to not shoot the messenger…the text before us is a painful text.

Yet at the same time, it is also a life-giving text full of God ordained practical truth and help.

Main Idea: Effective Disciple Makers Must Quit Being Babies

I want to thank Pastor Matthew for giving me the last part of that statement...

What impacts the spiritual growth process?

So what we see here are the marks of spiritual immaturity and a remedy for it!

Let’s first look at the marks of immaturity...

Don’t listen well to God’s Word (11).

Hebrews 5:11 “Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”

Much to say…the writer has already told us much about Jesus and how He is greater than everything…

We have a great high priest in heaven who gives us direct access into the presence of God...Yet there’s more.

But he can’t say it, not yet.

It’s hard to explain...

The problem isn’t that his subject matter is too difficult, although the truth about Christ’s priesthood is rich and mind blowing...

No, the problem is that you are dull of hearing...Literally, the phrase reads, “you have become sluggish in the ears.”

We see the same word in Hebrews 6:12 “so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

The writer communicates their problem was an acquired condition characterized not by an intellectual deficiency, but by an active choice of the will they chose NOT to listen to spiritual truth…their dullness was their fault.

they had become spiritually lazy.

Hearing from God was far from their mind…

You become dull in hearing when you...

Drift from God’s Word

Hebrews 2:1 “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.”

Drifting is gradual…it is a slow fade…it happens when we are not intentionally making efforts to learn and focus on what God says…

Doubt God’s Word

When you look at Heb 3-4 you see the Israelites failing to enter the rest of God because of their unbelief…they doubted God.

We say we believe in the sufficiency of God’s Word, but if you aren’t actively searching God’s word for answers then how much do you truly trust God has the solutions for you?

“One of the first symptoms of spiritual regression, or backsliding, is a dullness toward the Bible. Sunday School class is dull, the preaching is dull, anything spiritual is dull. The problem is usually not with the Sunday School teacher or the pastor, but with the believer himself.” Warren Wiersbe

Believers have a moral responsibility to know and understand Scripture, yet far too many believers fail to turn to Scripture when understanding is needed!

The study of Scripture is often relegated to 1, maybe 2 hours a week and only if nothing else is going on that day!

This congregation of Hebrews had grown spiritually dull because they became sluggish of heart.

Christ’s priesthood became difficult to understand because their hearts became indifferent to Scripture.

We preach expositionally but do you listen expositonally?

In other words, do you keep your Bible open and follow the textual argument, do you look up the references mentioned, do you take notes, can you identify the theme, list the subpoints and applications, or do you just hope Pastor Matthew and I and others that teach it to you get it right?

Do you ask God to help you see exactly where he wants us to apply the Scriptures being preached?

Are you a Berean mentioned in Acts 17:10–11 “The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.”

If we are going to be content to be “sluggish in the ears” then we are doomed to a life of perpetual infancy.

Hindrance 1 — Not listening well to God’s Word.

Hindrance 2 —

Never Move Beyond A Childish Understanding (12-13)

They should have been teachers but needed to be taught again.

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

By this time...indicate that as time passes a change is supposed to be occurring.

We all enter God’s family the same way, as spiritual babies. But as time moves on, so should the stage of infancy.

God intends for His children to grow up.

you ought to be teachers…there is an expectation of all believers to be involved in the discipleship of others...

This is not a reference to those who hold a particular office such as a pastor or elder…the “experts”

not every Christian has the gift of teaching, but every Christian, by God’s design, should engage in teaching.

By using the term teacher, he is addressing their responsibility to disciple other believers!

God’s goal is for His children to mature so that they can reproduce what He has given them into the lives of others.

The word again is critical here because it indicates that the congregation did not internalize the teaching they already received.

It implies that the congregation has forgotten what they should know by heart by now

They do not need to be taught for the first time.

these readers not only failed to grow but actually lost ground. They needed the elementary truths all over again.

Mature believers should never forget the elementary things of the faith.

This congregation, however, needs more than a recap: they need to relearn.

We must be careful to internalize the teaching we receive and to take the fundamentals of the faith to heart so that we are established in the faith and able to fulfill our responsibility as “teachers,” that is, as disciples who make disciples.

We must be developing an appetite for grace, knowledge, and understanding.

The more we know, the more we should want to learn.

We are called to do this not only for ourselves but so that we can teach those who are less spiritually mature.

Our spiritual growth has both inward and outward dimensions. We grow in the faith for our own sake and for the sake of others.

Matthew 28:19–20 ““Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

There are no qualifiers in the Great Commission…Explain

We should always be considering how we can learn God’s Word, not just for our benefit, but also to be better equipped to help others learn it and we should always be looking for that next person to disciple.

A truly healthy congregation should consist of willing and maturing disciples who are constantly training up newer and lesser developed disciples.

What was happening in the Hebrew congregation was they were lapsing and needed someone to teach them the basics of faith again.

They were stuck on the ABCs of God’s Word (12 b).

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

The Greek word for elementary here refers to “any first thing.”

For instance, the letters of the alphabet are the first principles, the building blocks of speech.

What’s one of the first things a child learns? A…B…C…D…E…F…G…right?

What’s one of the first things a child of God needs? The same thing. A…B…C…D… He needs the ABCs of God’s Word.

But Hebrews 5 isn’t addressed to baby Christians....these are folks who need the ABCs “all over again”.

The mere passing of time does not guarantee spiritual maturity.

You can be seventy years old and a charter church member, yet by this biblical standard classified as spiritually immature.

Furthermore, it’s possible that a person who once did teach others God’s Word, and was maturing in the faith, but then kicks it into neutral.

Friends, the Christian life is an uphill battle…what happens when you are going uphill and put your car in neutral...

You don’t stay where you are, for sure. You start coasting backwards, and consequently you’re in need of the ABCs all over again…

They could not handle solid food (12 c).

Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

“Milk” here refers to “the elementary truths of God’s word.”

The terms are synonymous.

In 6:1 the author calls them “the elementary teachings about Christ.”

we will look at them more in depth next week, but for now, it is sufficient to say that the basic principles are the truths that make up the basic storyline of Scripture.

(TAKE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVERTISE 30 DAYS TO UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE)

We are in the depth of graduation season...

I went to Scioto Elementary School in Commercial Point Ohio. I never went to kindergarten that is why I have such social issues (they didn’t have kindergarten in my school at that time)…but I did start in first grade…even from the the first day I started school I knew that I wasn’t supposed to stay there all my life.

We all know that it is normal to eventually leave elementary school and move on to junior high school, then to senior high school, and so on…learning more in depth topics and applications as we progress through the grade levels.

Just like we have various grade levels of progression in school, there are certain truths of God’s word, that require a greater depth of understanding.

There’s supposed to be a progression of spiritual learning taking place.

When was the last time you read a good book on the substitutionary atonement of Christ?

Can you define the terms justification, redemption, reconciliation, imputation, and propitiation, can you explain what it means that God’s word is inspired and why that is important to our faith?

Can you teach those precious concepts to your kids and grandkids?

If you can’t, what steps do you need to take so you can?

Be honest with yourself.

I didn’t see any 56- year-olds sitting in my 1st grade class at my Elementary School , saying their ABC’s, and drinking from tiny milk cartons.

What would you say if you saw a 56 year old man still trying to learn his ABC’s and sucking on a milk bottle for his food?

You would say something is desperately wrong…yet...

It seems to be acceptable for people who claim Christ to be content in never growing beyond the elementary truths...

This text is talking about people who have already gone through the milk stage of spiritual development and ought now to be digesting solid food, but they still need milk.

Just because you are someone who possesses a lot of Bible knowledge that does not guarantee spiritual maturity as the next verse points out.

They don’t connect the Word to right living (13).

Hebrews 5:13 “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.”

What happens if you try to live on spiritual milk?

Two things according to this verse.

One, you remain a spiritual infant.

There is nothing wrong with giving milk to an infant, but eventually they need more...

Just like it is not normal for adults to be sucking milk out of bottle, it is equally wrong for believers to be stuck in the infancy stage…

And two, you won’t be acquainted with the teachings about righteousness,

What does that indicate?

The verb “not acquainted” is a Greek word which literally means “no test” or “no experience.”

It suggests that the immature person lacks the experience of applying biblical truth to every day life.

Being acquainted is both doctrinal and practical…

you must know what righteousness is…doctrine...

you must know how to live righteously…practical

God’s Word produces righteousness.

By coming to know the Righteous One, Jesus Christ, a person is declared righteous by God and then begins to demonstrate righteousness in life.

Let’s say you went to the doctor and they told you you needed heart surgery. So they recommend you to a heart doctor for surgery.

The day of your surgery, before they give you the drugs to knock you out, you see 1 operating nurse holding a book in front of your doctor labeled “Heart Surgery for Dummies”

Then you hear the doctor say “Okay Google, bring up YouTube videos of How to Perform Heart Surgery”

He passed all the exams, has all the knowledge necessary to perform surgery, but never operated on a single person (even a training cadaver)

That’s what we see happening here...

The believer may be able to recite Bible truth, but there is no connection of that truth to his life.

It doesn’t direct what they do as a dad, or a mom, or at work, or in the decisions of his/her life.

Spiritual immaturity leads to believers who live according to the flesh rather than by the spirit…spiritual immaturity leads to moral immaturity.

Hindrances to spiritual growth...

Don’t listen to the Word well.

Never Move Beyond a Childish Understanding.

Now let’s examine the remedy...

Be Discerning (14)

Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

The writer now sets up a contrast between mature and immature believers.

The word practice here is key...

practice = from a Greek (gymnodzo) word where we get our word gymnasium – lit. train in gymnastic discipline; fig. in the NT, of mental and spiritual training and discipline control oneself, exercise self-control

- it’s the same word in . . .used 1 Timothy 4:7 “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness;”

What does that lead to?...The ability to “discern good from evil” (What is right and pleasing to God – what will glorify Him!)

to practice is to obey…the more we walk in obedience to the Word the greater levels of discernment are shown...

Only by faithfully and diligently studying the Scriptures can we rightly train and exercise our spiritual power of discernment.

Only the mature can distinguish good from evil. The immature are too weak and have not had enough practice.

Discernment is critical to our lives.

Discernment is like a theological grid or a worldview that helps us make instant moral and theological judgments about our circumstances.

Discernment is a higher order of thinking and can only be acquired through diligent training and experience.

If we want to mature as Christians, we must train our powers of discernment by constant practice.

We should so thoroughly consider and internalize the fundamentals of the faith that we are able to teach them to others and discern good from evil.

The author of Hebrews says that when we learn to practice discernment, we are ready for “solid food”—the weightier matters of God’s Word.

This does not mean Christians eventually reach the point where they no longer need to study Scripture.

All Christians, even maturing ones, always need the Bible.

When Christians possess discernment and can distinguish between good and evil, they have the capacity for spiritual reasoning.

They can see how one doctrine relates to another and can logically apply those doctrines to aid decision making in all areas of the Christian life.

Grown-up Christians, then, are those who have learned through experience to make well-judged moral decisions for themselves instead of needing, like children, to be told what to do.

Lesson for Life: Take Ownership of Your Responsibility to Grow!

It is an individual believer’s responsibility to grow in spiritual understanding so that the congregation as a whole is better equipped to faithfully minister the gospel to those in need.

It is the church’s responsibility to teach the individual believer.

Healthy Christians serving in healthy congregations are essential to spiritual maturity.

The process of spiritual maturity is a long and challenging one.

The goal is to gradually move from a diet of milk to a diet of solid food.

We may retain childish tendencies for a time, but we must be steadily growing out of them.

We must learn to be mature in the faith as those who possess powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

If this is to happen, we can never stop feasting on the solid food of God’s Word.