Do Not Be Satisfied with Milk

Hebrews 6:1-12

6 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 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.

Pray

This year is going by so fast. I was joking around, I think, in January to my family that Christmas is just around the corner. It will be here before you know it. Now here we are in late October and Christmas will be here in less than two months. It seems like time is moving so fast. Just a heads up, we will be taking a break in our time in Hebrews in December as we will do advent messages leading up to the celebration of the triumphal entry of Christ into the world. Be looking forward to that.

With this change in time, we must change as well. If I held onto Christmas of last year and failed to change the type of clothes I was wearing as summer came on, I would have died of a heat stroke.

There is a changing and growing that happens as the seasons change. Obviously, we put away our coats at some point but we also should be growing from season to season and year to year. If you are the exact same as you were a year ago in your walk with the Lord, something is wrong. What have you learned this year? Have you read through the bible? Have you read the bible at all? Do you own a bible? Like I say all of the time, if you do not own a bible please take one of the hard back black bibles in front of you in the pew as our gift to you.

As I said last week, this relationship with God is so much more than coming here every Sunday. There is a calling for us to be mature in our faith. We must grow in this relationship daily with the Lord and what the author of Hebrews says is that we have to grow in the knowledge of the Word.

In our text last week it showed that the people that the author is writing to are spiritually immature, that they don’t listen, they have been taught these truths of God but they have to be taught over and over because they are failing to comprehend what they are being taught. We see all of these examples that I am about to give in children. If you have children you know that you will, at some point, have to tell your children to take out the trash at least 100 times before it happens. As they grow, with discipline, that number gets increasingly lower until the point that they take the trash out because they see that it is full. That is what an adult does. They see things that need to happen and do them without people having to tell them, or at least they should.

These people were forgetful. They had been told the truths of God but they kept forgetting. They were unskilled in their works of righteousness. Because they didn’t listen and forgot what they had been told, they did not practice what they had heard. If you do not practice what you have been taught then you will not get any better.

I have played the guitar since I was 10 years old. This was before the days of youtube and the internet. I was unable to have instant access to instruction, so when someone taught me something, my ears were open. I soaked up all of that training and I took that to my bed room and around my house and wherever I went trying to perfect what I had been taught. I did this because it was important for me to learn that skill. I wanted to play with the older musicians, I wanted a seat at that table.

What we see in a lot of the Christian world today is that they, we, are satisfied with sitting at the children’s table. There are people who have gone to church their entire lives and are still sitting with just a head knowledge of Jesus.

Our text this morning starts with this encouragement,

Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity

It’s almost as if the author is saying, “Okay, thats where you are, let’s move on to the next thing.” What is this elementary doctrine?

a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God

This is how you become a Christian. You repent and believe. We see this in Mark’s Gospel. The first thing that Jesus says to kick off His public ministry is, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” This means that we turn away from sin and our past life of sin and believe that Jesus is the one that gave His life to pay the price for our sin. This is where everyone starts. If you have not done any of those two things you are not a believer in Christ. It is the starting line. The next elementary teaching is,

and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands

The washing is generally thought to be a reference of baptism and the laying on of hands is a symbolic gesture that would point to receiving the Holy Spirit. Jesus says in Matthew 28 that we are to spread the Gospel to all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach them to obey all that He has commanded. It is a new start, a new life. Baptism is the symbolic gesture of being buried with Christ and being risen to walk in newness of life. It is a brand new life that we are to start with to be molded into the obedience of Christ.

The last of what the author calls, elementary teaching is,

the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

This is the basic fact of Scripture that those that are in Christ and love him will spend eternity with Him and that one day He is coming back to judge the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1).

These are the core doctrines of the faith. Everyone, no matter how immature, should know and believe these things, but the author is saying that we cannot stop there and he encourages the believers that we will strive toward this maturity if God permits, meaning if we have the time to do that.

Can someone be saved by knowing, believing and living these things? Yes. In almost the 2000 year history of Christianity, most of the world could not read or if they could, they did not have access to a bible. This was their hope. The thief of the cross understood that Christ was the king and was promised access into the Kingdom, but the “death bed confession scenarios” are few and far between and now the majority of the world can read and have the bible in their pocket on their phone. I have no less than four bible apps on my phone, along with commentary apps and church history apps. The bible is still the best selling book every year and probably the least read best seller ever.

There are people that may be true believers that still only swim in the kiddy pool of their faith. They know that the gospel requires repentance and faith, they have been baptized and they are looking forward to the second coming of Christ, all good things, but they stop their growth right there. They are still on milk. It is like the idea of growing up and wanting to get a wife, you find a girl that will date you and then they agree to marry you and then you get married and say, “I have gotten what I desired.” and you never move past “I do.” There is work and cultivation and sacrifice to get closer to that woman so that the years become fuller and richer and the love grows exponentially, but some are satisfied just saying, “I have a wife.”

When you do that with the Lord, you are in danger of believing you have something that you do not.

There are four types of people in the world. Those that are saved and they know they are saved, those that are not saved and know they are not saved, those that think they are not saved, but are saved and those that think they are saved, but they are not saved.

To have a true marriage that is honoring to God, it is not a simple “I do” and a ring, but a loving, sacrificial, submissive relationship to one another that really reveals the unity that God intended.

These people who think that they are saved because they said a prayer or walked an isle or were baptised are the ones that do not dig deeper in their faith. Their fate is explained in Matthew 7:22, the most fearful passage in all of Scripture.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’

What the author warns of in the following verses sounds like someone who is a true Christian, lets look at it.

The text is talking about someone falling away from the faith that

once been enlightened,

This is someone who has received the knowledge of God’s truth. Not all that recieved this truth believed. They have heard it and their eyes were opened, but there are examples of those that did not believe. We see this happening in the Gospels to Herod, the one that had John the Baptist beheaded, it says that Herod enjoyed talking with John because he was a righteous man. John had been explaining to Herod the truth of God. You could make the argument that Pilot had been enlightened with his encounter with Jesus and from the record of Scripture, he did not believe.

The enlightenment happens to a lot of people that do not believe. It is best illustrated in the parable of the of the sower. The farmer goes out and spreads seed in his field and some of the seeds fell on the path and the birds come and take them away, some fell on rocky ground and they sprang up, but because their was no depth to the soil, the sun scorched them. Others fell among the weeds and they were choked out. Many recieved the truth and it is possible to receive this truth and fall away.

These people have

tasted the heavenly gift

It is quite possible for someone to hear the truth of God and come into a community of believers like this one and be loved and taken care of. You may receive financial help from the church or those in the family, you may receive help when you need it in the form of labor, someone may check on you, or even just the fellowship of these saints is is a sweet, heavenly gift. It is possible to taste these heavenly gifts and fall away.

They have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come

You are able to share in what the Spirit of God is doing in a congregation of believers when you are not a believer and do not have the Spirit. You can benefit from those things. You can benefit from the teaching that comes from this place without truly having the Spirit or it is possible that you may have some spiritual privileges by God. King Saul had that in the Old Testament. He was the king before David. He was put their by God, was able to prophesy, but ultimately ended up rejecting God. Judas, when he was sent out by Jesus with the other disciples, he was given the power to cast out demons. There is nowhere in Scripture where it says that Judas was unsuccessful in that endeavor. He was allowed to be in that group. It does seem that an unbeliever is able to share in some of these spiritual advantages of the kingdom good. They are able to take part in these powerful signs and wonders of the age to come. They get to be a witness of the power of someone coming to the Lord and out of the life of slavery to sin. They get to see the Spirit work and move and God may even use them in someone’s journey to come to Him.

I know a personal example of someone that was here in town that lead a ministry and kids came to know Christ, this person even challenged me and brought me closer to the Lord and this person has all but walked away from the faith. Remember church, apostasy, which is walking away from the Lord, denying him, often starts out looking like true Christianity. Remember, none of the disciples had a clue that it was Judas that would betray them. He looked like them, he walked and talked like them, he was endowed with the powers that they had and yet he still rejected the Lord.

This text is saying that those who have had all of these things shared with them and then have fallen away, it is impossible for them to be restored again to repentance. What is this saying?

Is it really impossible for someone who has walked away from the faith to be restored? Some say it is impossible for man, but not for God. Others say that if the apostate repents then they can be restored while others say there is no way back. There is a time when God says, “No more.” Romans 1:28 says,

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

These text are hard and we have to be careful not to throw around the word “apostate” to someone who leaves the church. I pray my friend who I spoke of earlier, comes back to the truth. We never know if it is true apostasy or just a period of rebellion. True apostasy is fleshed out just like true faith. We know we have a saving faith if we keep that faith until the end. We know that someone is truly apostate if they hold to that apostacy until the end.

Those that do hold to that apostacy are

crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt

They are not really crucifying Jesus again because He died once and for all (Romans 6:10), but they are acting like the ones that crucified Him in that they mocking, rejecting and humiliating Him.

Apostates are the worst kind of sinner because they see what a wonderful savior that He is and they still reject Him. They know the promises, they have seen His goodness and experienced His power and they still walk away from all of His goodness.

The author goes into a parable to prove his point.

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

I started this sermon with a warning that we need to grow in our faith. We must dig deeper into the things of God and not be satisfied with surface level knowledge. This story of the rain, if you are not taking this faith very serious and not wanting to grow is about you. You are receiving the blessings of God by living in a Christian country, you are sitting in a Gospel centered church, you are surrounded by people that want to love you and care for you, do not take this blessing for granted and do not misuse it. Don’t be the land that responds with thistles.

If you are immature in your faith, you may say, “God is blessing me with this rain, therefore I must be doing something right. Why do I need to alter my life in any way? Things are going great.” Just because there are blessings coming at you and all around you does not mean that you are in a right relationship with God, it just means that God has a plan to use you and your resources for something. You can mature and be used to grow His kingdom or He will take them from you and give them to someone who will either in a disaster that comes your way or through your death (Proverbs 13:22).

The author is urging these people to mature in their faith and do not turn away to gods or worldly ways that are inferior.

He encourages this group and I hope you are encouraged by this.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

The author is saying, “I don’t think that you are apostates.” I see good things in you. You are bearing good fruit. This group is living out their faith through their work. It is not a works based religion but there is work that overflows from your faith and the love of God. We share the Gospel and do good works to show the love of God to others. This audience was doing this. They have shown love for the name of Jesus. They have an affection for God and they have been serving the saints. They were helping the brothers and the sisters in Christ.

The author is saying, “Because I see these things in you, I don’t believe that you are falling away,” but the warning is to continue to grow in the faith so that the temptation is no where near the camp and hold the faith to the end.

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.

When we stay steadfast on the prize, we will not turn away. When they race horses, they put blinders on. They don’t want the horses to be distracted to run anywhere but where the rider wants them to go. Our eyes should be set on Christ and following His example to the end and if the Holy Spirit is the driver of our lives, we should be heading toward the direction the Lord wants us to go.

There is so much more to learn and so much of a deeper understanding of the truth of the gospel under the surface of the elementary learnings of Christ. Dig deep, stay hungry for the Word, rely on God answering prayer and leading you into a deeper understanding. This deeper understanding keeps you from straying after lesser ways of life. You should not be satisfied with milk when there is a steak dinner you can enjoy.