Growing in Christ
Hebrews • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. 1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. 4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. 9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The Marks of Spiritual Immaturity
The Marks of Spiritual Immaturity
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.
A dullness to the word of God
A dullness to the word of God
And this didnt’ happen overnight. This started back in chapter 2 with drifting, and then doubting and next comes a dullness…or a lack of even trying to understand.
The author has much more to tell his readers about Jesus being our great high priest and what that means but he says…it’s hard to make it clear to you because you don’t even want to try to understand what I am saying anymore.
I love how the NLT writes this verse…
New Living Translation Chapter 5
There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
One of my favorite shows is Forged in Fire. I don’t know why…but I love watching these sword-smiths compete against one another with their blades…and the judges will perform sharpness tests…testing their hardened steel blades against some of the toughest challenges. Their first test is always a hardness test…will the blade hold the edge. And sometimes they will bang those hardened sword edges against other metals as hard as they can…to see if the blade will keep it’s edge, remain sharp enough to cut and keel.
Remember the word of God is alive and active and sharper than any two edged sword. And so if spiritual messages, if sermons or Sunday school lessons are seeming dull to you…no longer sharp…maybe the problem isn’t the teacher…maybe, just maybe the hearer or the student is the one who has let their spiritual edge take too many hits.
Inability to Share
Inability to Share
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
We know and understand that not everyone is called to be a teacher. James 3:1
1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
The spiritual gift of teaching is not what the author is talking about here…but what he is arguing is that everyone should be able to share what they have learned from the Word. We go to great efforts to teach our children to share. The author is making an arguement that these Hebrew believers have been believers long enough that they should be able and willing to help others grow in their faith, but instead of helping others grow, they need to continually be taught the elementary lessons again. Instead of growing, maturing in their faith, they were regressing…slipping backwards.
The next mark of Spiritual Immaturity is found in the last part of verse 12…
A Baby Food Diet
A Baby Food Diet
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
Baby food- milk is exactly what an infant needs to develop.
Likewise, as a new follower of Christ, we need the milk of the word of God…
The author actually lays out for us what spiritual milk is in the next chapter…
1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Repentance from acts of death
Faith in God
Instructions about cleansing rites
The laying on of Hands-
The resurrection of the dead
Eternal judgement
He says we need to move beyond these teachings into the teachings about righteousness…
Spiritual milk of the Word refers to the things that Jesus did while on earth…his birth, his life, his teaching, his death, his burial and his resurrection. The meat of the word refers to what the author wants to teach about next but says they are too dull yet to understand. Namely, what Jesus is now doing in Heaven. We begin our Christian life on the basis of His finished work here on earth but we mature in our Christian life on the basis of His unfinished work in Heaven and us putting it into practice.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
A Call to Mature in our Faith
A Call to Mature in our Faith
1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
So now that we have laid the foundation of what Spiritual Immaturity looks like…we need to move on to the authors next point… What does it look like if we remain Spiritually dull. If we don’t heed the warning signs and marks of Spiritual Immaturity…
A Warning Against Falling Away
A Warning Against Falling Away
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
What does the author mean here? Is he saying that someone can
1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Mature Christians are Known by their Fruit
Mature Christians are Known by their Fruit
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. 9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Land that drinks in the rain produces a useful crop…
But land that is filled with thorns and thistles is worthless and in danger of being cursed.
This sounds a whole lot like Jesus’ teaching found in John 15:1-17
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Abide in Jesus…Remain in Him and you will bear much fruit. He will guide you, He will lead you...He will help you grow and mature in your Christian walk.
It goes back to what he said in his sermon on the mount…
16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Mature Christians are known by their fruit.
Mature Christians are known by their fruit.
How they love God and love others.
How they put into practice the elementary truths of Gods word and share what they know with others.
Paul gave his son in the faith a dire warning about false teachers in 2 Timothy 3:1-7
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
