Are we Growing in Spiritual Maturity or Simply Growing Old

Intro

- Well good morning again, I am so grateful to be here with you guys again.

- I am excited to see what God will do this morning as we study his word.

- In the process of studying for today, I read an article called ….

- “funny and so Called- “immature “ habits that people have held onto well into Adulthood.

- It is a mouthful… but within this article, they gave a list of what these “immature habits were” that some adults have kept. Let me read some to you.

1. Buying dino nuggets.I know my kids loved these. Matter of fact, on one youth potluck night, I remember one 13 year kid brining a plate of reheated dino nuggets, and they were the first thing to go.

2. Building pillow forts. I remember building these with my kids.

3. Giving myself a boost, then jumping on the back of my grocery cart and riding on the way back to the car.

4. Seeing a cow or horse and saying “cow/ horse”.

5. Blowing the paper from my straw wrapper at my kids, husband or whomever is with me

6. Saying “JINX’ when me and someone else say the same thing at the same time.

7. Running up the stairs on all fours, aka “beast mode”

8. Saying hi to stray casts and dogs whenever I see one, but avoiding my ex-classmates so I won’t have to make small talk.

Transition

- This was a silly list that was meant to reminds us of things we used to do when we were young kids, and to some extent, would not be the normal practice of an adult. There are somethings we can all agree on that as an adult, you simply grow out of.

- And for all practical reasons, there are certain things that we can look at in an individual and can relatively place the age of someone.

- For instances, I can see a baby being held by his mother drinking a bottle of milk, and I can guess that based on what I am seeing, this child is somewhere between the ages of 1-4.

- I can look at a person with a full set of white hair, reading glasses using a walking stick, and I can guess that they are older in age.

- You get what I am saying, there are certain physical characteristics as well as physical actions that will describe what season of life a person is in.

- If you and I were to see full grown man with a full beard sitting on his moms lap drinking a bottle milk while wearing a diaper, we can all agree that we would think it strange. The characteristics and actions do not match the age.

- Same as if we saw a 1 year old with white hair, reading glasses, reading the newspaper… that would be super cute, but we would understand that the characteristics and actions do not match the age.

- This is what we are going to look at this morning. I’ve titled my message in the form of a question.

“Are we Growing in Maturity or Simply Growing Old?

- If you have your bibles turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 5.

Transition

- Let me give you a bit of the background into the book of Hebrews. It is important to understand as it pertains to what we will be looking at today.

- The Jewish believers during this time were suffering persecution for their faith ( Heb. 10:32-34). Due to the persecution and the pressure of the culture around them, they were tempted to go back to keep some of the old covenant rituals and practices as a way of possibly escaping some of the persecution or possibly because doubt had crept in as to whether following Christ and rejecting Judaism was the correct thing.

- The writer would write to let them know how Jesus was superior to the old testament covenant and how He was sufficient to fulfill the old covenant. The writer is proving the Superiority and Sufficiency of Christ.

- The doctrines presented in this letter, the warnings it delivers, the exhortations it gives, all were intended to prevent spiritual regression and to encourage the continual development towards spiritual maturity.

- So what you have in this letter, is the writer is going into explanation that Jesus is far better and greater than the old Testament, the old covenant, the angels, the priesthood. And in the middle of these explanations, the writer takes a side note to give them 6 different warnings of the danger ahead. The danger of falling away. These 6 warnings are found throughout this letter.

- You can see that spiritual regression was a huge part of what was on the heart of the writer.

- Now turn with me to chapter 5.

Transition

- Here in chapters 4& 5, you have the writer describing how Jesus is greater than the high priests, he describes Jesus being greater than the earthly priest because He was ordained a high priest forever not to an earthly tabernacle but a heavenly tabernacle according to the order of Melchizedek.

- And it is while the writer is explaining this that he stops mid-sentence to give us one of his warning and exhortations. It won’t be until chapter 7 that the writer comes back to explain the order of Melchizedek.

- So this morning we want to look at what was on the heart of the writer as he thought of the people.

- If you like to take notes, the first thing that we will look at is…… The Real Issue of the People.

I. The Real Issue of the People (v. 5:11)

New Train of thought-

The writer tells us that he wants to say moreconcerning Jesus to these believers who are reading this, he is speaking about the difficult subject that he was just talking about, the order of Melkizedek….

but there is a problem. In this new train of thought we will go into what the problem is and the reason for the problem as well was what to do in light of the problem.

Problem-

The problem was that these things were difficult to explain to these believers…. Why? Why is it difficult to explain? Was the message a difficult message to understand?

Answer

- the answer is giving in this verse….. “since” you have “become” “poor listeners”

- It is interesting that the phrase the writer uses is “since you have become”. In other words, the believers were not at this place in their lives at one point…. But they came to find themselves in a different place. What is he talking about?

- He is talking about their current spiritual condition. Theses believers found themselves in a different spiritual condition than the place where they once were.

- We are told that theses believers have become “poor listeners”. The thought is, not that they don’t hear….. but that they don’t listen.

- To hear has the thought of being able to “hear” the sound, the voice, the noise…. In our ears.

- To listen has the thought of taking to heart what is heard. To respond to what is heard.

- So, the indictment on these beliveres is that they are not able to hear more things concerning Jesus because they have come to the place where they are no longer able to process the information about Jesus and respond to it properly.

- Something has happened to these believers that has left them in a place where they are unable to receive more of who Jesus is, unable to receive more of what God wants to do in their lives.

Transition

- In the NKJV the phrase used is “you have become dull of hearing”. That word “dull” in the original language speaks of being lazy, or sluggish, of being “ignorant”. Unable to receive what is being taught because of laziness, or because of ignoring it.

- Dull hearing is not a problem of the ears, but a problem of the heart. Speaks of a person who isn’t interested in what God has to say to them any longer.

- The person who does not want to hear what God has to say, has a spiritual problem not a physical problem. The issue wasn’t the message but their hearts.

- It wasn’t that the truth was not spoken to them but rather, they chose to ignore it.

- And this is the same thought of people who attends church today and say they never get anything out of it. They might say…. “I go to church every week, but God doesn’t speak to me”.

- It’s not that the truth of God’s word wasn’t being taught or that God wasn’t speaking…. But often we don’t get anything out of a bible study because we check out, we ignore what God is trying to say to us, or because we are distracted.

- There is a warning given earlier by the writer in Heb. 2:1-3

Hebrews 2:1–3 NKJV

Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

There is an exhortation to pay attention to what we have heard, the danger of not listening, of not taking to heart those things which we have been taught, is the drifting away…..is the dull heart.

And notice with me that the word “neglect” is also used in v. 3. Most of the time when a believer is hard hearted, when they are dull of hearing, when they don’t want to hear from God, when they begin to drift away…..

it is because they have neglected their relationship with God. A person doesn’t just wake up one day in a backslidden state…. But they made a serious of choices that lead them to be at a distance from God…. Making it very difficult to hear Him.

- this is the same principal in a relationship or in a marriage. A person doesn’t just fall out of love, but they fail to maintain that love, they fail to stir up one another in love.

-this was their main issue. Now lets look at the Root of the Issue. So if you taking notes.’

I. The Real issue of the People (v. 11)

II. The Root of the Issues (v. 12)

II. The Root of the Issue (v. 12)

Time

The first thing we want to focus on is what the writer says…… though by “this time”…..you ought to be teachers.

There seems to be an expectation from the writer to the reader. An expectation that was to take place through time. That expectation is that these believers would now be teachers of God’s word.

The expectation was a transition from being the one who was being taught, to the one who is doing the teaching.

And the word “time”gives us insight into the reality that time is required for a person to go from student to teacher. It is through time, of a person learning from someone else, that the student learns and develops sufficient skills and wisdom to pass on what he has learned, therefore moving from student to teacher.

Personal Story

- I worked in the electrical industry for more than 20 years. When I first started I was a kid right out of high school, 18 years old. I began as an apprentice. I was the laborer just doing whatever everyone told me to do. I was there to simply learn as much as I could from older, more experience electricians.

- After 5 years of working slowly learning the trade, I was able to take my state license and become a certified electrician. I had finally learned enough to be on my own and to start teaching younger guys about the trade. And many of you may relate to that real world training through time and experience.

Time and the ability to learn from a teacher develops growth in whatever it is we are doing. In school, at a job, in a sport, in life…..

It has been said….” We really only master something after we have effectively taught it to someone else. Teaching is the final step in learning.”.

We call this Maturity. When we are talking about spiritual things, we talk about being spiritually mature. In other words, a person who has grown up through time and by being instructed will grow into spiritual maturity.

That is what the expectation was for these believers and that is the same expectation for all believers. That we would move from being spiritual babies being taught by others, to grow into spiritual mature people who can instruct others.

There is an importance sense in which every Christian must be a teacher, because we can help to disciple others. Think of your children, your grandchildren, those you work with, those you coach, those who are a part of your life, or in your family. We have a responsibility to not only be discipled but to disciple others as well.

Transition

Spiritual Babies-

Time has passed for these believers and they have been instructed during in this time. We know this because of the phrase being used “you have needagain for someone to teach you”.

Again

- gives us the insight that they had previously been taught. So, the issue was not that these believers were not taught and that is the reason they didn’t grow into spiritual maturity……. But the real issue was what the writer told us in v. 11…… “they became poor listeners” or “dull of heart”.

So instead of these believers listening and taking to heart what they had been taught, and applying the word of God to their lives….. they chose to focus their attention on other things. As a result…… they stopped growing spiritually. They stunted their growth.

Basic teachings-

because of their lack of growth, they needed to be taught again the basic principals found in the word of God. They never moved passed the basic things. They grew up in age because time had passed by….. but they had not grown up spiritually.

This is where my title comes from…… Are we Growing in Spiritual Maturity or Simply Growing Old ?

Transition

Signs of the spiritual state

Now the writer goes on to make the illustration of what the spiritual condition of a baby christian and of a mature christian looks like. The writer says that these believers who have not grown spiritually are like babies who need to drink milk.

The picture is of a new born baby who has not developed the ability to digest solid food. They only have the ability to digest liquid. The ability to digest solid food is something that time and the natural growth of our body develops the ability to do.

The body naturally learns to do this over time as the body develops. When the body is unable to develop properly , it would be considered un natural, or a special condition or handicap. It could be a very serious and even dangerous problem.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend children begin to eat solid food after 6 months when there are signs that the child is has developed and ready.

Your child’s signs:

Sits up alone or with support. Is able to control head and neck. Opens the mouth when food is offered. Swallows food rather than pushes it back out onto the chin. Brings objects to the mouth. Tries to grasp small objects, such as toys or food. Transfers food from the front to the back of the tongue to swallow.

- So according to this article, a mother is to be watching for both the time period and the signs that the child is developing properly before introducing the solid food.

- This is what the writer of Hebrews is noticing. As a spiritual father, he sees that time has passed by, yet there are no signs of being ready for solid food, there is something wrong.

- The writer says that rather than needing solid food, they still need milk.

Solid food is the picture of the deeper things of God found in His word. The things that will produce further growth and further development. Milk can only help a young child grow so far before he needs more nutrients found in solid food. This is the same principals spiritually. We have to move on further in the things of God’s word that will create more growth in us.

Danger of only digesting milk-

It is not healthy for a person to stay in a spiritual place where all that they are drinking is milk, where are they are doing is getting the basic christian principals. A christian who only drinks milk, will eventually get old but not grow mature, and they will be in a state that is not spiritually healthy. They will not be able to experience all that God has designed for them.

- Now lets look at….

III. The Reason for the issues

III. The Reason for their issues (.13-14)

- Everyone

- The first thing I want us to see here is the word “everyone”. This is important to note. The principals that we are looking at are for everyone. It isn’t simply for those who are pastors or those who are called to ministry. This is for every believer. It’s for you and I.

- Now we are given here the reason why one person will become spiritually mature and why the other person will not. There are no special people. It doesn’t matter who you are, or who your family is , or what type of life you have lived….. Everyone has the same opportunity spiritually speaking.

- There is a direct result to our actions that is seen here. In other words, the level that a person grows spiritually is based on their own daily choices and actions.

- The spiritual Babies Believers-

- the writer tells us that those who partake “only” of milk are those who are “unacquainted”with the word of righteousness.

-

- Only-

- the word onlyis important here. It is not saying that we cannot go back and learn of the basic principals of the word. But the issue here is with the person who makes it a point to “only” digest the basic things. There is a direct choice made here that they only want to digest a certain thing.

- Spiritually speaking, people can make choices to only listen to certain messages, to only read certain passages, to only hang around people who will not call them out in their lives.

- You see this in the choice of churches that people go to. There are many who go to churches who will make them feel good, who will not speak on sin, who will not teach more than 25 min. They want to have their ears tickled.

2 Timothy 4:3 NKJV

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;

Personal Story

- I was out in Texas a couple of weeks ago visiting some friends and on a Sunday we decided to go to a church near where we were staying. There were no Calvary Chapels in the area we were in.

- And the moment the Pastor came up to teach, we could tell it was a different service. The message started with and introduction with pictures about the Pastors truck that went on for about 10 minutes. He then began his sermon which was roughly another 15-20 minutes. Then is was done. We walked and out of the service in a matter of 1 hour.

- I am not saying that to speak bad about the church specifically, but to make the illustration that many churches have tailored their services to match the attention span of the people. The expectations of the people set the standards of the churches in many cases, rather than God’s word.

Transition

- Unacquainted

- Now we see the main issue is that the spiritual baby christian makes the choice to only digest certain things, but as a result of their choices….. they are “unacquainted”with the word of righteousness.

- It speaks of them not knowing word. They do not have a knowledge or a relationship with the word, therefore the word of God has not made a direct impact on their lives.

- The NKJV says they were “unskilled”in the word or literally….. inexperienced. A person who never engages in a certain sport, job, a musical instrument…. Will never gain the skills required to perform at the highest level.

- The spiritually immature person has not developed any spiritual skills in using the word of God in their lives because of their lack of experience. They have not given themselves over to the word of God.

- There is no direct application of God’s word or transformation thru God’s word, which is what produces growth in their lives.

- The biggest issue we see here is that a person is not familiar with the word of God. This sounds like an oxymoron, how a christian not know the word of God. Yet we see this to be true in the lives of many believers.

- * interesting that American for hundreds of years has called themselves a christian nation, yet you can see around the illiteracy of God’s word throughout, by the way our law makers have made the laws, by how people have accepted and adopted evil practices, like abortion, divorce, sex before marriage, adultery, drunkenness…… yet all these things are condemned by God’s word and in our nation, we have made them normal practice.

- Even with those within the church, some of these practices have been accepted. I dare to say, that even from some pulpits.

- Many believers have not made the daily choice to read God’s word, they have not made the choice to surrender themselves to the Authority of God’s word.

- Spiritually Mature Believer

We are told that the spiritually mature person is the one who eats solid food, and we are told why they are able to eat solid food and why they are mature.

- We are told that the reason these believers are mature, is because they have practiced or have used the word of God.

- We see a contrast here between those who are spiritual babies and those who are mature. The baby Christians are those who do not know the word of God because they don’t use it.

- Yet here we see the mature christian is the person who has brought the word of God into their lives. They have practiced both reading and applying the word which has brought transformation to them.

- The more you use the word of God, it will create a hunger for the word. The more you sit under solid bible teaching, the more you learn, the more you grow, the more your ability to sit through a bible study and to understand the bible.

- It’s like you are exercising a spiritual muscle. The more you use it, the bigger it becomes and the more you want to exercise again.

- Peter would say. 1 Peter 2:2- the consumption of the word produces growth.

1 Peter 2:2 NKJV

as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

- Senses trained-

- There is a direct result that comes to the person who is reading God’s word daily and who is seeking to apply it to their lives……. We are told that their senses are trainedto distinguish or to know what is good and what is evil.

- Practice or continued use of God’s word produced training to their senses. What are our senses? We know the five senses of our human body…. Taste, touch, smell, hear, see.

- The word used here in the original language for “senses” speaks of the internal senses. The faculty of the mind for perceiving, understanding and judging. It speaks of the mind and heart.

- Those who practice the use of God’s word in their lives have trained their minds, and their heart to see what is right and what is wrong. The word of God has helped to identify what is good and what is evil in their mind and heart and has allowed them to respond accordingly.

- To help them make the right decisions daily, to set the standard in their lives of how they will live, to set the standard of what they will allow in their lives, in their homes.

- Illustration of the counterfeit dollar

- “Federal agents don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they master the look of the real thing. Then when they see the bogus money they recognize it.” John MacArthur

J.Dwight Pentacost

“What he is indicating is that while both the spiritual baby and the spiritual adult have the Word, the baby is unable to use the word to determine what is right and wrong, to use the word to guide in his decisions, or to use the word as the standard of his life. On the other hand, the spiritual adult is able to use the word to determine what is right and wrong. While the baby has the word, he does not use the word. The adult, on the other hand, not only has the word, but he uses the word. It is this continued use of the word that causes a believer to progress from infancy to maturity . The opposite is true. If a believer has used the word in the past but now no longer uses the word, he will move backwards spiritually from maturity to immaturity. “

Have you ever seen a baby playing, they will literally put anything in their mouth. They have no concept if the item they are putting in their mouth is dangerous, or just plain disgusting. They have no concept of what is good for them or what is bad for them.

*interesting that this is the area where many people including christian have a hard time with; knowing what is right and wrong. There is such a thing that is taught and believed called subjective truth or relative truth. In other words there is no truth, but it is all subject to your own personal interpretation of that.

This is the world we currently live in, this is what has even made its way into the church. But you see the word of God is complete and absolute truth.

And if I daily bring into my life the word of God, I begin to train my mind and my heart to know what is good and what is evil not based on my emotions or feelings but based on God’s truth.

This is the importance of teaching God’s word verse by verse, chapter by chapter. To get all of God’s counsel, that I might be instructed in all aspects of my life , not “only” certain parts.

This is the importance of teaching the word of God to the next generation, so that they may know what is good and what is evil.

IV. The Response to the issues (6:1-3)

Therefore- the writer now transitions from what he has been talking about… since he has addressed the problem which is that he wanted to address more concerning Jesus ….. but they were dull of hearing

Since he has described the root issue , that they were not spiritually mature enough to receive it…….

Since he has described the reason why they are not mature….. there lack of using God’s word…

He now describes what they are to do…..

Leave and Press on-

The writer tells the believers to do two things in light of what he has just explained to them. Considering the charge brought against them, there is now an expectation for them to respond.

1. They are to leave- the elementary teachings about Christ. In other words, since they “only” brought in certain teachings in their lives, they were to leave those basic things behind.

- The writer is speaking specifically about the foundations which Christianity was built on, the old testament teachings. He addresses 6 areas in v. 2 that were doctrines stressed in Judaism. These were not wrong but elementary teachings and were not the foundation for maturity. They were to leave these basic things behind.

- As Christians, these are 6 basic teachings we can draw out that we should all be familiar with.

1.Repentance

2.Fatih

3. Baptism

4. laying of hands- spiritual gifts

5. Resurrection- including the end times, rapture

6. Eternal judgement

- These are foundational building blocks of our faith but they are meant to spring board us unto spiritual maturity. There has to be forward progress.

- We can’t studying end times everyday. We can’t just know about the bapism only, or we can’t just repent of or sins and never move forward in our relationship with God. There is more God desires for us.

2. The were called to press on- to move forward in their relationship with God. Forward progress would require the leaving of elementary things and to move forward towards the deeper things in Christ. This is the same for you and I

*We have to be willing to leave the “onlys” in our lives behind. I only listen to this person, I only read this, I only serve in this ministry, I only talk to these people, I only obey this part of God’s word. ….. and be willing to press on forward in maturity challenging ourselves with the word of God.

Conclusion

Spiritual maturity is not something that happens overnight, and it does not happen on its own. There has to be a goal in mind, and there has to be steps we take to get us to our goal. If we are just waking up daily and going about our day, reading the bible whenever we get a chance, going to church when it is convenient, with no purpose or plan….. we will never reach our spirit potential…. Matter of fact… that is a recipe for spiritual neglect …. A recipe or spiritual regression and spiritual immaturity.

Kobe Byrant needs no introduction. He will be known forever as one of the greatest basketball players to ever play the game. But the game was not simply natural to him. What he will also be known for, is for having the best work ethic.

He worked harder than anyone to achieve his goal. He didn’t just wake up and go play a game.

He worked out 6 days a week, over 6 hours a day, for 6 months of the year. He put in hours of weightlifting, workouts on the track, he worked on basketball skills, watching tape….. all in the process of fulfilling his purpose.

Lets take a personal inventory today of our own lives. We may not be a professional basketball player, but we are all called to be children of God, we are called to be holy, we are all called to purpose, we are all called to glorify the Lord, we are all called to walk in obedience……..

How much of my life is spent pursuing those things, that for the excellence of Christ, I might be all that God has created me to be.

May you and I take to heart the exhortation to “press on to Maturity” and not simply grow old.