“The Stagnant Christian”

What Kind of Christian Are You? Sermon Series

“The Stagnant Christian” (Part #11)

KEY PASSAGE: Hebrews 6:1–12 (NASB)

Father God, Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory. It is not ours, but Yours. We pray You accept our worship and our praise. May Your name [that is] above every other name be lifted [up] as we serve and worship You in true godliness. We pray this in Christ’s name and everyone say Amen. You may be seated.

TITHE and OFFERING

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

PRAYER FOR TITHE and OFFERING

What a joy it is to give You our gifts. I pray that these gifts will be used to advance Your work here on earth. With them come our hearts and lives, and I pray that You give us the determination to be faithful in our giving as we live for You. Amen.

WELCOME

Welcome everyone to our Sunday Worship Service. Please stand up [everyone], greet some folks around you, and welcome them to worship [Service]. Our first-time visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online.

ANNOUNCEMENT

• CORPORATE PRAYER MEETING is the first Saturday of the month. The next Corporate Prayer Meeting is March 1st at 8:00 a.m. here at the church. The Community Meal is this Saturday, February 22nd, at 12:00 p.m. During this time, we serve the community and minister to them.

• Women’s Night is Saturday, February 22nd, at 7:00 p.m. [Our] Worship Night is Friday, February 28th, at 7:00 p.m.

• Wednesday Night [Remember] is our Bible Study Connect at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD. We are studying the Book of First Corinthians. All the weekly activities for the church are posted online on the church’s website.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

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

Please remain standing as we pray.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we come before You today as we wish to experience Your Word, not just hear it, but to be illuminated by it, transformed in it, and encouraged by it. Lord, as we seek to unwrap this most difficult passage, help us not simply to get stuck on theology but on the reality of the truth that it wants to communicate to us, so we ask, Lord, that You would speak to us today through Your Holy Spirit. We worship You, Father, in the name of Christ, we pray. And everyone says Amen.

You may be seated.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

We have all seen or maybe been in a stalled situation. [Perhaps] A stuck vehicle on the side of the road with the hood open [indicating] that the car may have run out of gas or the battery is no longer working, keeping the vehicle from moving forward. Or maybe you are working on a project that got stuck because of a lack of resources. And so, the project becomes stagnant. [It is not moving forward]; it is not progressing the way you have intended for the project to progress. I hope and pray that you will know what kind of Christian you are by the end of this sermon series.

We come to the second-to-last sermon of our series. This is Part 11 of a twelve-part series we started last year in November. Our sermon series is titled “What Kind of Christian Are You?” We have gone through the various descriptions in Scripture of the [several] kinds of Christians or the [different] states in which Christians can find themselves.

SERMON EXPOSITION

This morning, I want to talk to you about the “Stagnant Christian,” … the Christian [who] is stuck. They are in the same place, and there has been little or no progress in their spiritual growth and development. The author of Hebrews is concerned about this. Hebrews has often been called the second most [difficult] book in the New Testament, after the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation’s difficulty is found in its symbolism, and because of its prophetic nature, it has all of these symbols that you have to unwrap and unravel.

What makes the Book of Hebrews [difficult] to understand is that it operates on an assumption—The Book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians, and the assumption is your understanding of the Old Testament. When you read through the Book of Hebrews, you will see repeatedly this call back to the Levitical priesthood, the Old Testament process of communicating with God. The assumption is that when you read the book, that is your point of reference. Since many gentiles [like you and me] don’t have that point of reference, they find the Book of Hebrews somewhat challenging to unwrap and unravel because of its assumption.

So, to summarize the Book of Hebrews and make one key point that informs the whole book, it was written [to] Jews who have become Christians. They have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior but are facing problems in life. Some of them have had their property confiscated by the authorities, others found themselves in jail, and others found themselves rejected by their Jewish counterparts, whom they have left, having become Christians. These hardships and challenges have caused many to revert, turn back around, and return to the [old] system they were saved from. Many [of the Jewish Christians] [wanted] to relinquish their hold on Jesus Christ. They wanted to go back and return to the old system that they came out of.

SERMON EXPLANATION 1

The book of Hebrews was written to tell [Christians] who are struggling, who [wanted] to throw in the towel, [Who wanted to quit], who wanted to go back to [the old system], who [wanted] to move away from their faith in Jesus Christ.” The author of Hebrews says, “Don’t do that!” The author tells us that Christ is better with your problems, [Christ is better with your] difficulties, [Christ is better with your] trials, and [Christ is better with your] tribulations. He says that Jesus Christ is “seated on the [right hand of the Father] and as a High Priest; He has a full-time job.”

Many Christians today don’t even know that Jesus has a full-time job in heaven. The full-time job of Jesus is to make intercession..… that is, to operate from heaven on your behalf on earth. That is His full-time job, which He does in a seated position. Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand because His work is finished. Jesus is interceding or operating on your behalf even [in the] [midst of] your struggles and pains.

The author stated his concern in a previous sermon – In Chapter 5, verse 11, “Concerning Him we have much to say, it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.” His concern is that these Jewish Christians and Christians today have lost their ability to pick up heaven’s signal. In other words, they have lost the capacity to hear from God. [Watch This] You can listen to a sermon and not hear from God. You can hear a praise and worship song and not hear from God. It is not because God is not speaking. The author says your problem is you are dull of hearing.

This dullness is [keeping] you from progressing to your next spiritual level. It is holding you back; you are stagnant, stuck, and not progressing. And then, in verse 12 of Chapter 5, “By this time you ought to be teachers.” Some of [these] Christians who are the [recipients of] the Book of Hebrews have been saved for thirty years.

SERMON APPLICATION

When you are thirty years old in the Christian faith, you should be able to win somebody else to Christ, grow somebody else in Christ, and help people through their struggles. He says, “But you are a thirty-year-old Christian who [needs] to go [back] to kindergarten.” [Because] you have become stagnant, or you have become stuck. You are not making progress in your spiritual journey.

SERMON EXPLANATION 2

And so, the author of Hebrews’ concern was to move the Jewish Christians out of this stagnant, non-progressive, stalled role and move them on to spiritual maturity. In verse 14 of Chapter 5, he says, “For solid food is for the mature.” What is maturity? What does it mean to be a mature Christian? Maturity is not simply knowledge of the Bible. Because you can know the Bible and not be [a] mature [Christian]. Maturity has to do with your ability to consistently access heaven’s point of view as the basis of living your life here on earth. A mature Christian discerns between good and evil, lives a righteous and godly life, and studies the Word of God. A mature Christian sets time aside every day to pray and worship. A mature Christian keeps their mind and thoughts on Christ.

An immature Christian has inconsistent looks, views, and perceptions of things from a spiritual point of view. They always revert to the world’s point of view rather than reacting, responding to Heaven’s [point of view]. Your challenges, problems, and difficulties, painful as they may be and are, are always designed to take you to the next spiritual level. And if you miss that, you will be stuck in the same place and the [same position].

No one can escape coming into the world as a baby because that is the only way to get into this world! But it is a problem when a baby fails to mature. No matter how much parents and grandparents love to hold and cuddle a baby, they desire that the baby grow up and enjoy a [full] life as a mature adult. For Christians, God calls us to “Press on to maturity” in Hebrews 6:1. He says, “Let us go on and become mature in our understanding.”

Therefore, in light of what he has said in verse 1 of Chapter 6, he says, “Leaving the elementary teachings about Christ, let’s press on to maturity.” He says, “I want you to press on to maturity.” This is a call to spiritual progress. If we are going to progress, we must leave childhood things behind and go forward with spiritual growth and development. He describes some of those childhood things in verse 2: “Not laying again the foundation of repentance, dead works, faith in God and instructions about washing and laying on of hands and resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment.”

For the Jews, he was telling them, “Look, the Old Testament system that was the opening to your New Testament experience of Christ, it was great … but it was to set you up so you can experience Jesus.” “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so!” is a true statement that will get you an ‘amen.’ But if you are stuck in one place and are not progressing in spiritual development and growth, you have not pressed on to maturity. God did not save you for you to be STUCK at your conversion. God did not save us to be stuck at the point where we got saved, where we trusted Jesus Christ.

SERMON EXPLANATION 3

In verse 3, he says, “And this we will do if God permits.” The whole point of hearing God’s Word is to hear God’s voice …To hear the voice of God! “And this we must do if God permits.” In verse one, he says, “Press on” “If God permits,” in verse 3. In verses 1 and 3, he brings together [what we call] sovereignty and human responsibility. Sovereignty means God overseeing something. Responsibility is what you must do. Verse 1 says, “You press on, [you] push your way to maturity.” God is not going to press on for you.

We must … take responsibility. You must value, I must value, and we must value [the] salvation we have so much that we exercise responsibility. Philippians 2:12 says, “Work out your [own] salvation in fear and trembling.” You must take responsibility for your salvation. Then, he brings up sovereignty in verse 13, “For it is God who works in you.” Philippians 2:12 and 13 say, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to do His good pleasure.” In other words, God will not [permit] if you don’t press on. We MUST press on if God permits!

The Scriptures are full of encouragements to press on, [to persevere], to stay the course, and the Scriptures offer us many warnings against falling away, against moving from a position on which you once stood, against moving away from the Christian faith. You may wonder why I am not progressing. Why am I still stuck? Why am I still stagnant? The answer is that you are not pressing on to spiritual maturity. In other words, we will press for the things in life we want. Most of us Christians don’t [press—push] for spiritual maturity because it is not [important] to us. And then we wonder why we don’t hear the voice of God.

That is why God is not permitting us to become better. God is not permitting us to have victory. And God is not permitting us to be delivered [from whatever we need deliverance from.] Why is God not permitting? In verse 3, God will not [permit] us because we are not pressing on to spiritual maturity in verse 1. He says, [press] on to maturity.

SERMON EXPLANATION 4

We come to verses 4 and 5. “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and [have tasted of] the heavenly gift and have been [made] partakers of the Holy Spirit. And have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” That is another way of saying, “For those who have been converted.” “For those who have been saved.” The same Book of Hebrews says Jesus tasted death. Jesus died, and it was a complete death on the cross. Jesus experienced death.

Hebrews 2:9 says, “Jesus tasted death.” Hebrews 2:14 says, “We are partakers.” He repeats this in Hebrews 10:32 because he is talking about Christians. At the end of Hebrews 6:4, he raises this issue about the Holy Spirit. He says, “Those who have partaken of the Holy Spirit.” Then, in verse 6, he says, “Fall away. “ Fall away, that is, abandon the faith. Fall away means to [abandon] your testimony of faith in Christ Jesus. You regress and walk away from God. [And you] can do that with your lips, or you can do that with your life, or you can do that with both. You are saved, [You] have partaken of redemption, and are on your way to heaven [which is good news], but as far as Earth is concerned, you backtrack, moonwalk, and regress. And you fall away, you go back to the thing [the junk] that God wants to get you out of – out of your system.

He says, “It is impossible to renew them again to repentance,” in verse 6. “Since they again crucify to themselves, the Son of God and put Him to open shame …” He brings up the possibility of re-crucifying Christ. He says, “Folks who fall away are re-crucifying Christ.” They are putting new nails in the hands of Jesus. They are putting new nails [in] the feet of Jesus. They are putting a new spear in the side of Jesus, and they are putting a new crown of thorns on the head of Jesus, and they are re-crucifying Him. He says backing away from Jesus Christ is like sending [Jesus] back to the Cross! When Jesus died on the Cross, He satisfied the demands of a holy and righteous God for you and me, not only for our eternal destiny but for His delivering presence through life’s ups and downs and realities.

He says, “When you do that, you re-crucify Jesus and send Him back to a [place] He has already been. Jesus already died for your sins and your victory. Jesus has already died for your deliverance and your provision. Jesus is now seated on the right hand of God, and He is finished, and the victory has already been won! Why do you want to [take] Jesus back to a place He has already been? And you take Jesus back when you fall away from Him, when you moonwalk on Jesus when you return to the old system. Why do you want to go [back] to the place that redemption has brought you out of.”

When Jesus Christ was crucified, in addition to the pain He went through and experienced on the Cross, He was ridiculed. “If you are the Son of God, come down.” … The Roman soldiers made fun of and joked about Jesus dying on the Cross. Jesus was a shameful man dying a shameful death. When you leave Jesus Christ, you place Jesus back on that Cross and make Him a joke. He calls it an ‘open shame’ in verse 6. You make Jesus a joke, and you make Him a laughingstock. You put Jesus back up on that Cross and make Him a joke.

You are singing praise and worship songs and repeating the Word of God, but you retreat, and you make Jesus a joke and a laughingstock. You are not physically putting Jesus back up on the Cross, [but you are] taking Jesus back to the place He has already left and been victorious because of you. He says, “Press on to spiritual maturity.” You put Jesus to open shame; you embarrassed Him; you shamed Him for something He has already achieved and already accomplished on the Cross.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION

He is speaking to Jewish Christians who understand the Old Testament. He talks about Israel leaving Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. They cried to God in Egypt, “We want to be delivered.” God sends Moses, and He delivers them from the Egyptians’ bondage. He guides them through the Red Sea, defeating the enemy. And God is taking them through a tough period of time called ‘The Wilderness.’

The wilderness is the place of testing. God’s design for them and God’s design for us is always the same: Deliverance, Egypt—Development, the Wilderness—Destiny, the Promised Land. He says … in Deuteronomy 8:2, “I took you through the wilderness to test you.” Testing is for development. Here is a secret for you: The [harder] the test, the [greater] the development.

SERMON APPLICATION

Some of you [right now] are going through some rough waters, tough times, painful times, and tear-shedding times—God says, press on. He says, “PRESS ON, DON’T QUIT, DON’T THROW IN THE TOWEL, DON’T GIVE UP!” God took the people of Israel through the wilderness, and [every] now and then, God drops in to let them know, “I am still here.” “I am still with you.” God brought water out of the rock. He wanted to let them know … He says, “I let you go hungry so that I could drop in some manna from on high,” just to let you know, “I am still here.” God turned the water of Mara around when it was bitter and made it sweet. God wants you to know that “I am still here!”

When you are going through the wilderness, that is development. When [you are] going through tough times, God will drop something to let you know you are not alone. You [may] feel alone, but God will show up to let you know He is with you.

SERMON EXPLANATION 5

Finally, they arrive at the Promised Land, which is destiny; that is where God is taking you. The Book of Hebrews has a word for destiny, [it is called] ‘rest.’ Rest is the same as Canaan. It was the place God was taking them. Why did He call it rest? Why does He call your destiny, where God is taking you … ‘Rest’? Because He said, “In the Promised Land where I am taking you, it will have wells that you did not dig, produce that you did not plant, cities that you didn’t construct.”

In other words, “I will have gone ahead of you and taken care of everything.” He then gives an illustration in verses 7 and 8, “For the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and closed to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.” He raises the possibility of a worthless Christian. He says, “The rain is falling” in verses 7 and 8, “The rain is falling from heaven, and it is getting into the ground.” Why do we want the rain to fall and get into the ground? For vegetation. To produce fruits and vegetables. This progress results in fruitfulness.

The ground that produces the vegetation [produces fruit] is [useful] in verse 7. And he says, the ground that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, [Useless] in verse 8. This illustration of a field or ground reminds us of our Lord Jesus’ parable of the Sower [Matthew 13:1-9] and Paul’s teaching about the fire testing our works [1 Corinthians 3:6-23]. A ground proves its worth by bearing much fruit, and a true believer bears fruit for God’s glory as they make spiritual progress. The ground that produces the vegetation and the ground that produces the thorns and thistles is the same [ground]. We are talking about the same ground but about two different results. The rain is the same but with two different results.

He is raising the distinction between a useless Christian and a [useful] Christian. If you are a stagnant Christian, you are a useless Christian. In other words, you are of no value to God on earth. The rains speak of the heavenly benefits that accrue to all Christians because of the work of Jesus Christ.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

He concludes with an encouraging word in verse 9, “But beloved,” “We are convinced of better things concerning you.” Translation, “You are better than that.” God is not looking for churchgoers because that can be stagnant Christians and [certainly] stagnant disciples. God is not just looking for folks who carry their Bible but read it and do what [The Bible] says. God is not asking for people to listen to the worship song and sing it [out loud] but to express it in their daily lives. God is looking for mature Christians who demonstrate that this Christianity is [for] real, [who demonstrate that this Christianity is authentic]. And they are not just a Christian when it is convenient. God is looking for mature Christians who want to be [for] real in how they react and act.

Every day, ask God to help you: “Today, Lord, I want to be for real,” and that means that your commitment to Christ must outdo every other commitment, a commitment to your race, a commitment to your gender, a commitment to your class, and a commitment to your economic resources. God must be able to override all of that because, if God can’t, [then] you are a stagnant Christian. But if you press on to full maturity, you will [experience the enjoyment] of God’s rich inheritance. God bless you.

If you are not a Christian, I pray that the Spirit of God will bring conviction to your heart [right now], and you will not reject the Lord Jesus Christ. If that is you, please come [forward] so we can pray for you.

Let us stand on our feet.

BENEDICTION [CLOSING PRAYER]

Let us pray.

Father, in our study today, we have trusted You again to teach us. Father, You know that … You promised us that if we prayed and asked, You would be our teacher. So, Father, I depend not upon what I have said, but I [depend upon] what the Spirit of God has taken to penetrate the hearts of all of us. Father God, what I have said to Your church, I have said to myself. And, Lord, I don’t want to stop growing because there is so much growth that I need to do, and all of us need to do. So, I pray that You Teach us about that quiet time. Teach us about spiritual discipline, prayer, witness, and service to help us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father, I pray that You would convict every believer here, that we might set such a pattern for unbelievers that we become irresistible, that we become, in the true sense, Christ ones, Christians, that people will perceive that we have been with Jesus. And, Father, we also pray for those who may be in our midst today, who have never received Jesus Christ, and who time and time again have heard the Gospel truth. May their hearts be warmed by the Gospel and be drawn to… the beauties of Jesus Christ. May they come to the place where they will acknowledge sin and, in the sorrow of sin, begin to turn from it and take a step of faith in Jesus Christ. In His name, I pray. And Everyone says, “Amen.”

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