“The Mature Christian”

What Kind of Christian Are You? Sermon Series

“The Mature Christian” (Part #5)

KEY PASSAGE: Hebrews 5:11–14 (NASB)

Father God of heaven, we “Thank You” for Your faithfulness, grace, mercy, and peace, and we ask that this church be the lighthouse in this community where people can find hope. We give You all the glory and praise Your holy name.We now [commit] the rest of the church service into Your hands, and everyone says, Amen. You may be seated.

TITHE and OFFERING

We will call on the ushers to pass around the plates to collect our tithes and offerings. Please follow the instructions on the screen on how to give to the church. The worship team will lead us with a song as we collect our tithes and offerings.

WELCOME

Please stand up, greet some folks around you, and welcome them to worship. We welcome you [all] again to our Sunday Worship Service and are glad to have you in God’s house. Our first-time visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online.

ANNOUNCEMENT

· New Year's Watch Night Service is at the church on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, at 8:00 p.m.

· Our next Corporate Prayer Meeting is Saturday, January 4th at 8:00 a.m. Please come [so we can pray together.]

· Wednesday Night [Remember] is our Bible Study Connect at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY [and NAVIGATE] THE WORD OF GOD. We will start the Book of First Corinthians on January 8th in the New Year. We just finished the Book of Romans. There will be no Bible Study this Wednesday.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Bow with me in prayer. Thank you, Father, for sharing the Word of God. We stand on tiptoes, anticipating what You may do through [the dissemination] of Your Word in a country that has long since lost its way. Thank You for [the kindness of] inviting us [of all people] to bring the message to those whom You love [For whom You died]. May we be faithful [to do it well.] May we be accurate, clear, and practical. May get out of the way so Your Holy Spirit can lead without ego or any work of the flesh interfering. May the Good News of Jesus travel freely and widely into the mountains and the valleys across the wall and to regions beyond. I pray that You will give safety, travel, and joy in ministry. We “Thank You” as a church for the privilege of putting our arms around those who are taking the Gospel message to places we will never go. Thank You for each one doing so. Thank you [for] those who faithfully helped little children last week to know of Jesus and learn to love and walk with Him. We pray that our church may continue to be a lighthouse of hope, assurance, mercy, grace, and healing. We give our gifts that [The] message will never [ever] stop. In the name of Jesus, we pray and give. Everyone says Amen.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

There was a school principal who was very upset. The principal was upset because he did not get a raise at the end of the year. Some of you can identify with and relate to this school principal. The principal did not get a raise, and he was enraged. He went to the Superintendent of the School District and said, “I am upset because I did not get a raise this year!”

The Superintendent said, “Well, why do you feel you should get a raise?” The school principal [said to] the Superintendent, “Because I have been teaching and I have been a principal of this school for twenty-five (25) years.” The Superintendent said, “Let me correct you.” He said, “You have been a principal with the School District for one (1) year, repeating it twenty-five times!” In other words, “you have not progressed; you are just doing the same ole thing [over and over again], and there has been no development and improvement, given the time and years that you have been in this position.”

The author of the Book Hebrews has the same concern that these believers had not progressed. Some of these believers have been saved for five, ten, fifteen, up to thirty years … but [they] have not progressed and fully developed as mature Christians. They were going in the same circle [over and over again] with no forward movement in their faith and walk with Christ Jesus. An old preacher once said that most Christians are [betweeners]. What are betweeners? In the context of the Book of Hebrews, these are Christians who are between Egypt and the Promised Land (Canaan) – that is, they are out of the place of danger in their Christian faith, but [Watch This] they are not yet into the place of rest and rich inheritance.

They are not in Egypt because they have been born again, but they have not arrived at their inheritance yet because they are going in circles—between deliverance and experiencing God’s best. So, they were wandering in their walk with God. These are Christians who are between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, and the blood of Jesus saves them, but they are not yet enjoying the newness of resurrection life. And so, the question on the floor is, “Are you a betweeners?”

The main reason, or one of the main reasons, why these Jewish Christians in the Book of Hebrews were not making progress is because they were struggling and experiencing persecution. There was an inconvenience, and this kept them from progressing through the difficulties and growing in their faith. The Book of Hebrews is written [to] Christians who are not progressing. They are Christians who are not progressing, and some ten times throughout the Book of Hebrews, the author refers to them as ‘Brethren,’ and he identifies with them as believers. But they are frustrated, and so they consider going back to Judaism because they were not moving toward God’s goal for discipleship, [Spiritual Growth], or what we have called today ‘The Mature Christian.’

SERMON EXPOSITION

So I want to talk to you about spiritual maturity, [or] becoming a grown-up Christian in everyday language. Let’s first look at the word maturity. The word maturity means full age, or you, and I would say, ‘adulthood.’ [So] What is a mature Christian? What does God mean by saying His goal is for you to be a mature Christian? A mature Christian, or a grown-up Christian, is a person who has learned … [here it is] … to consistently operate from a spiritual point of view rather than a human perspective. A mature Christian is a Christian who has come to the place where they consistently operate from the spiritual rather than human, which means they are not operating from a worldly or fleshly perspective.

They consistently operate from God’s point of view. [And that is God’s goal for every Christian – to look at things from His point of view]. We cannot operate that way perfectly in our flesh, but we can operate consistently with that mindset or point of view. Like any good parent, God’s goal is maturity. He is our Father, and God’s ultimate goal for every Christian is spiritual maturity. The author of Hebrews points this out in Chapter 5 of the Book of Hebrews in this well-known passage. Let me read it to you so you can follow along with some of the most profound truths you will ever learn about spiritual development and [spiritual] maturity. Starting with verse 11 and going through verse 14.

[Concerning Him, Hebrews 5:11 says, “… we have much to say, and it is difficult to explain since you have become poor listeners. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who, because of practice, have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil.”]

The author of the Book of Hebrews [makes a profound statement] in this passage that God’s goal is for us to move from milk to meat or from infancy—[That is milk], to maturity – [meat]. We are not surprised that an infant wants milk. We are not surprised that an infant needs milk. We are not upset that an infant demands milk because that is what infants take and require! And so, the author uses this human analogy to explain a spiritual principle and [a spiritual truth]. And remember, whenever God wants to explain something spiritual that we may not know, He will use something physical that we know about to help us understand [The Spiritual]. So, he says, “Infants need milk!” “Babies need milk!”

But please notice [Church] his terminology. His terminology is that these believers, at the end of verse 12 of Hebrews 5, have come to need milk. In other words, they are regressing. They are moving back. A baby does not come to need milk; [Babies] need milk to survive. These believers have come to need milk. So, in other words, they were regressing [BACK] to milk. They were going backward!

Let me share with you a major principle of spiritual development, and [that is]: There is no such thing as going nowhere. If you are a Christian, you are either going forward, or you are going backward, but you are never standing still in your spiritual life. You are moving, but you could [be progressing or regressing] in your walk with God. [You see] These Jewish Christians were regressing because they were not progressing, and they had come to need milk. What is milk? That raises a question. How do you know if you are a milk-Christian versus [vs.] a meat-Christian? How do you know if you are immature and still a child Christian or if you are becoming a mature Christian? What is the difference between a mature Christian and an immature Christian? [And so], we are going to take a spiritual test to determine if you are a mature or immature Christian.

The author gives you several things in this passage to help you measure your spiritual level [Your spiritual growth]. Let me start with verse 12, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers.” One of the things that a mature Christian is doing is to disciple somebody else. To impart somebody else by spiritually contributing to the development of another believer. Babies don’t contribute to anybody else. All they are doing is sucking for themselves! Babies are concerned about three people (me, myself, and I), and they want to get it ALL for themselves.

He says that by this time … you have been saved long enough to share the Good News with somebody else, to win somebody else to Jesus Christ, and to make disciples! If you are a father [and you are] making no spiritual impact in your family, it is because you are a baby daddy. Because by this time, you should be [teaching, training, and imparting] spiritual development to somebody else. So, if you are here and you only come to church to get [or receive], it is because you are a baby Christian. You are a spiritual infant. And how many people spend ten, twenty, thirty years … to get or receive every Sunday in church! That means they are not growing because they are not imparting other people’s lives.

But you say, “But I am not a Bible scholar” … you don’t have to be a Bible scholar to get somebody saved. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to help people get started with their faith in God! One of the best ways to grow is to impart what you are learning to somebody else, which keeps you from forgetting what you have learned. Every Christian should look for an opportunity to share what God has given them. He says, “By this time, you ought to be teachers.” So, why are they not teachers? Because of another problem, in verse 11, he says, “You have become dull of hearing …” Dull of hearing. The Greek word dull means to be lazy [to be slothful]. He says you are not growing because you are lazy!

If you are spiritually lazy … too lazy to get up to pray, too lazy [to get up] to read the Bible, too lazy to review the truth of God’s Word. [And so], if you are spiritually lazy, don’t blame God that you are not growing in your Christian life. Many baby Christians are baby Christians today because they are too LAZY to become mature. They are too irresponsible. He says, “You have become dull, slothful, and lazy of hearing because, by this time, you ought to be teaching somebody else.” What else demonstrates a milk Christian? He says, “Because you need,” verse 12, “someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God.” Because you live in kindergarten, you are a Kindergarten Christian. What are the elementary [eh·luh·men·tr·ee] principles? It is like saying, “The ABC’s.”

SERMON EXPLANATION 1

If we [are going to] progress in our Christian life, we must leave childhood things behind and move forward in spiritual growth and development. When I was in kindergarten, the teacher taught us our ABCs.’ We didn’t have television and all the technology to teach us [in those days]. You must learn your ABCs to read words, sentences, and books. The Greek word for elementary principles or first principle in verse 12 is “Stoicheion,” from which we get our English word atom, which means “primary elements” – the ABCs of the Christian life. These Christians should be teachers and mature saints , but [They] are still baby Christians. They were babies like many Christians today, and all they wanted was baby talk [Baby Sermon] from the preachers in the pulpit. Far too many Christians today are not interested in hearing what the Word of God says, and that is the reason some preachers today are getting away with murder in the pulpit – because they murder the Word of God. They kill the Word of God by replacing it with something from their viewpoints, and the congregation likes that kind of baby talk.

What in the world are the elementary principles of the oracles of God in verse 12? Well, the Book of Hebrews rests on a premise, and the premise is The Old Testament. If you don’t know the Old Testament, some of the things in the Book of Hebrews won’t make sense because it is building on the previous oracles of God. The oracles of God are the pictures painted in the Old Testament … the New Testament [is the fulfillment] of those pictures. The Old Covenant, or the Old Testament, was like the ABC’s. The Old Testament is [full] of pictures.

The Old Testament is the ABC book. [The Old Testament] contains pictures, such as the ceremonies, [the] feast days, Holy days, sacrifices, analogies, and the tabernacle. The Old Testament also contains many pictures of Christ, including the temple. These are picture books that point to Jesus Christ. He says, stop being babies and come to maturity. You see] Maturity is in the revelation of [The Person] Jesus Christ.

SERMON EXPLANATION 2

How else do you know that you are a Milk Christian? Verse 13 says, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the Word of Righteousness, for he is an infant.” He says the reason that you stay a Milk Christian is that you are not accustomed, [that means], used to using the Word of God.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION 1 and STORY

I like words, I love words, and so whenever I read something and [I] come across a word … that I am not familiar with, [most of the time], I will pause for a second and look up the [meaning of the word] in the dictionary. In other words, I try not to skip the word just because I don’t know the word. When I encounter a word that I am unfamiliar with, I [will] look up the word, and then I try to use the word on Sunday in my sermon. And the reason why I use the word on you is … so I don’t lose it! See, when I use the word on you, it allows the word to become part of what [He says]; the Milk Christian is not used to the Word of God.

[Watch This] The Milk Christians will Amen to the Word of God, they will say Hallelujah to the Word of God, they will say Praise the Lord to the Word of God, and they will read along with you while … you are reading the Word of God, but come Monday morning, you will never have to worry about them growing because they won’t use the Word of God from Monday to Saturday. They only say ‘Amen’ to the Word of God on Sunday in Church.

SERMON EXPLANATION 3

He says, “Because you are an infant, you are not utilizing [Applying] the Word you heard. Hearing, agreeing, and celebrating the [Word of God] doesn’t give you spiritual growth and development. It is the use of [Word of God].” He says, “… that removes you out of spiritual infancy.” So then, how does that contrast with a meat Christian or a mature Christian? He uses food to explain spiritual development and [spiritual growth]. He says in verse 14, “But solid food is for the mature, who, through practice, have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Now, let me tell you what a mature Christian is NOT.

Sometimes, we think that a mature Christian is a person who can spew out deep and [profound] theological truths because they have an academic understanding of the Bible.

[You see], You can grow in your knowledge while simultaneously decreasing [in] your spirituality. You can know more and be less mature because he says in verse 14, “A mature Christian who eats meat [solid food], it shows up in their discernment …” It shows up in their discernment, so maturity has to do with spiritual discernment, not academic knowledge.

As we grow in the Word of God, we learn to use it daily [in our lives]. As we apply the Word of God, we exercise our “spiritual senses” and develop spiritual discernment. It is a characteristic of little children that they lack discernment, and the baby will put anything into its mouth. An immature believer will listen to any preacher on the radio, television, or social media and [Will not be able to] identify or discern whether or not the preacher is faithful and [true] to the Scripture.

[The fact that you] can spew out anthropology, eschatology, ecclesiology, … because you can spew out the decrees of God and go into the dispensational ages and periods of the Scripture. Because you can deal with the various nuances and technicality of soteriology, because you can now discuss justification, redemption, and you can discuss … impartation, and you can discuss all the [various] idiosyncrasies of the very elements of Scripture DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU ARE A MATURE CHRISTIAN! That means you have a lot of information in your head. That is NOT spiritual discernment. He says, “Solid food, which is maturity, is tied to discernment.”

SERMON EXPLANATION 4

You see, our physical bodies have senses without which we could not function. The same is true for our inner “spiritual man,” which has “spiritual senses.” Psalm 34:8 says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good………” Matthew 13:16 says, “But blessed are your eyes because they see; and your ears because they hear.” [And So] As we feed on the Word of God and apply it in our daily lives, our inner “spiritual senses” get exercise and become strong and responsive. Paul calls this process exercising ourselves unto godliness in First [1] Timothy 4:7-8.

The ability to discern good and evil is essential to Christian maturity. The nation of Israel in day of Moses lacked this discernment, so they failed to claim the Promised Land of inheritance. For Christians, it is impossible to stand still in the Christian life. We either go forward and claim God’s blessing, or we go backward and wander about without direction.

He says senses have to be trained. In our physical lives, we have senses, which allow us to see, touch, taste, smell, and hear. Well, the same principle applies to our spiritual life. In our spiritual lives, we have senses, and [These] senses are designed to pick up on things in the spiritual realm. Our physical senses are designed to pick up on things, sounds, smells, and tastes … in the physical realm. But our senses must be developed, and the way senses are developed is in the gym of life. When God allows trouble in your life, [it is because] He is trying to train your senses. When He took the people from Egypt to the Promised Land in the wilderness, [Watch This] God allowed them to go through trouble—no water, no food … The Red Sea … and all the enemies they had to face and deal with. God allowed them to go through all kinds of stuff to train their senses spiritually.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

Spiritual maturity is God’s gift of a sixth sense … Eagles have a unique perspective, and [They have] binocular eyes. An eagle can [zero in and] see a rabbit in the grass ten miles away because it has binocular eyes. In other words, the eagle can see things [that the] birds cannot see because it has been given a unique God-given sight and perspective. The beauty of an eagle’s eye is because of what the eagle sees, and [The eagle] can adjust in motion.

Have you noticed how many Christians pick up stuff too late? After we have made mistakes upon mistakes in our Christian lives. The whole point of eagle eyes is to see things coming and be able to adjust in motion. He says when you are a mature Christian because you are using the Word of God and you are using it, not just hearing it, your senses become sensitized to pick up on the heavenly network and proceed with God’s point of view. And you have that point of view ahead of time!

If so many of us could live life over again as mature Christians… we would not have made those bad choices. You and I cannot change yesterday. So, allow the errors, mistakes, and wrongdoings to grow you to seek spiritual maturity. The meat of the Word of God is not just Bible knowledge; it [is using] that knowledge to enhance [Your] sensitivity to the spiritual realm. That means hearing the Holy Spirit’s still, small voice …Because when you hear the Spirit’s still, small voice, you don’t need a preacher screaming [Yelling] at you. Because you get to hear God’s voice … that is when you know you are a mature Christian. You know you are a mature Christian when you hear God’s voice for yourself. You are not just hearing the Word of God; you are hearing the Lord through the Word for yourself because your senses pick up on it now.

God is after your spiritual maturity.… So, let’s use the Word of God. When you are in a situation, ask God to “Give you a sense of what you are seeing right now that your physical eyes cannot see.” I challenge you to invite the Holy Spirit to let you … have binocular eyes to see things that your natural eyes cannot see. To see things that the eye have not seen, and ear have not heard and have not entered into the heart of man. .… May our church experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Born of the Spirit, sealed by the Spirit, and dwelt by the Spirit? Anointed by the Spirit, led by the Spirit, baptized by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit. That is spiritual maturity. When you and I, as a church, make spiritual maturity our goal, not just programs, we will see our lives transformed and the lives of others we teach transformed along the way. God bless you.

If you are here today and don’t know Jesus, [You don’t have a relationship with Jesus] I encourage you to come to Jesus right now and accept the [free] gift of eternal life. Come to Jesus, and we will be happy to pray for you. If you are here today and need prayer, please come forward so we can pray for you. Let’s stand on our feet, everyone.

BENEDICTION [CLOSING PRAYER]

Let us pray.

Father, I thank you today for the clarity of the Word of God. We ask that it penetrate our hearts. We are thankful that You have spoken to us through Your Word; and, Lord, we believe that this has been Your message for this hour, as You have brought it to pass; and, Father, we would know that there are perhaps some here who have been considering Jesus Christ; and in their hearts, they know that it is true. They know that Jesus Christ is the Savior that He claims to be. Their hearts are soft toward Jesus, and they are open and responsive. Father, we pray right now that they would not neglect or let their heart become hardened by indifference or rejection. I pray that they will not still linger in the misery of the past but that they might come to Jesus Christ. Father, maybe some are still holding on to Judaism. Perhaps some are holding on to other forms of religion. Father, may they drop everything and come to Jesus Christ today. Father, we know that going out of here without Jesus Christ is inexcusable for someone who has heard the truth. And so, I pray that while hearts are still warm and tender toward Jesus Christ, draw them to Yourself. We pray in Christ’s name. And everyone says, “Amen.”

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.