Growing in our Testimony

Good Morning! It has been a busy week - Thursday we had to go to Saint Louis to pick up Rachel’s best friend, then we had a day up there with them sightseeing, then Rachel’s graduation party yesterday and then we spent the night again in Saint Louis last night and drove back here this morning to be here with you all this beautiful day as we celebrate the Lord together. So let’s do that right now, let’s celebrate the Lord in prayer.

Let’s pray.

Last week we talked about growing up in our faith, and this week we’re continuing that trend. This week I’d like for you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 6.

As you’re turning there you have frequently heard me at the end of every message lately as we are closing talk about the ABC’s - admitting to God that you’re a sinner, Believing that Christ lived that sinless life and died for us but had victory over death hell and the grave for us, and then C - choosing Christ as our Lord and Savior- and that’s what we do to enter into a relationship with Him.

And it’s just that simple to enter into a relationship with Him - there are no tricks, no gimmicks, it’s salvation by grace alone.

And that’s where the author Hebrews picks up in chapter 6 with.

Hebrews 6:1–3 ESV

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, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.

We learn the ABCs in kindergarten. And as we mature in Christ, in following Him, we have to continue growing on in our walk with Christ.

We learned the ABCs so that we could learn how to read words, sentences, books - anything that is written. We don’t keep learning the basics because once we’ve learned those basics we move on to the next challenge, those better things that make us better personally and professionally.

We learn the ABCs of our faith to know Him and to have that relationship with Him, but we have to walk further in to the relationship than the doorway in order to grow - we have the ABCs of our faith, those building blocks, but now it’s time to move on to the life in Christ and not stay stuck in the foundation.

The Hebrew Christians needed to abandon the temple sacrifices together with it’s rituals and the priesthood. They have far better provisions for their need in Calvary and a far better Priest in Christ.

They were stuck. They had years and years and years of tradition, and ritual, and all of that built up junk that comes with trying to do things on their own.

It reminds me of a conversation I had earlier this week - in our churches today, or over the past 30 years or longer actually, a lot of us became stuck. Stuck in rituals, stuck in dress codes, stuck in our own little traditions and clicks and ways of doing things. We begin to have that mindset of “this is how it’s always been done” and we can make laws out of suggestions or laws out of methods.

Now I’m not saying that it’s a free for all - there are some things that we absolutely shouldn’t do, some we should, and some that are gray area. There’s only one way to determine those things and that is through discipleship and gaining spiritual maturity.

We have to see and understand unbiblical doctrines and remain free from those bonds. We should be striving to do those biblical things, and along the way we will come across things that are a-biblical, where the Bible neither speaks for nor against it.

And from today’s text we can extract three words that speak to this need.

1. Progression. - v.1

Hebrews 6:1 ESV

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,

Let us leave - we have to move beyond. We’re still on that track from last week in Hebrews 5:12-14, because we have the word therefore and it’s pointing back to the previous statement

Hebrews 5:12–14 ESV

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

A baby bird that is maturing leaves the shell and the nest, our children leave our homes to build their own lives, a builder builds beyond his foundation.

That elementary doctrine, it’s the foundation of our faith.

And the author is saying let us go on, let us continue forward - it’s a passive verb, it’s let us be carried forward because it is God who enables us to progress as we yield to Him. He speaks. We submit and obey. We receive His words through devotions, reading, prayer, fellowship, and discipleship. Then we act upon those words and that guidance that is from Him as we prayerfully seek His guidance.

A baby does not grow himself. Similarly we cannot grow ourselves in Christ. Christ does the work, mature believers that God is working in pour into us as brothers and sisters in Christ and we are carried all of us bu the power of the Father.

This comes by way of

2. Explanation. - v.1b-2

and that explanation comes by way of

A. Initial Experiences.

Hebrews 6:1b(ESV)

not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Understand that all are foundational truths - they were foundational to the Jewish faith and our Christian faith is based on the Jewish faith, as a fulfilment of it.

John 4:22 ESV

You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Jesus said that when talking to the woman at the well.

But for these Jews to go back into judaism to escape persecution, to go back to those rituals, they would be abandoning the perfect for the imperfect, the mature for the immature.

It goes back to what I was talking about a moment ago a little bit. For the longest time it has been Christians can’t do this, or Christians won’t do that, Christians condemn this or that - Christians have to do this, Christians have to do that.

Now don’t take all of that the wrong way. There are some things a Christian shouldn’t do and some things they should, but all of it boils down to our relationship in Christ. We’re not all in the same place in our Christian walk. The bottom line is being submissive to God and being ready to follow Him where He leads, not a list of things to do or not do.

Repentance from dead works and faith toward God - these are inward, they mark the initiation of the spiritual life.

Repentance - it’s to change one’s mind here. It’s not simply a bad feeling about sin, because that could be regret or remorse. It’s changing one’s mind about sin to the point of turning from it.

And even that is not something we can do on our own. Once a sinner has repented or received the gift of repentance from God then he or she is able to exercise faith in God.

Acts 5:31 ESV

God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

God gives repentance

Acts 11:18 ESV

When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

God granted repentance.

Faith toward God there at the end of verse 1 - it was an Old Testament requirement, now as Christians its faith in Jesus.

Acts 20:21 ESV

testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

The second way that explanation comes is by

B. Symbolic Expressions.

Hebrews 6:2a (ESV)

and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands,

Don’t get confused there, the greek word used for “washings” is baptismos, it’s baptism - the act of dipping something into water momentarily as a cleansing.

The doctrine of baptism and the laying on of hands are symbolic, they are outward - they have to do with a person’s relationship to the local assembly of believers. In the New Testament a person who received the gift of repentance and trusted Christ was baptized and became part of the local church, we see this in Acts 2

Acts 2:41 ESV

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

That was a busy day for the Apostles. Could you imagine baptizing 3,000 people in one day - we have a goal here of having 4 this year, and I’d be excited just to see that because that’s God working through us as a church but could you imagine 100 or 500 or even a thousand in a year but to add 3000 - folks the first church was a megachurch by today’s standards.

That’s 3,000 new believers, but look what happened afterwards:

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

They were being discipled daily!

Sorry, back on track -

Baptism, now what is baptism. Baptism does not save you. Baptism does not cleanse you from your sin. Baptism is an outward symbol of the spiritual cleansing that has already taken place. It is a symbol of our identification with Christ in the death, burial, and resurrection. It is our very first act of obedience.

It says I have accepted Christ, received repentance, and I now follow Christ.

How often do we get baptized after salvation - once, because its symbolic to others of our commitment to Christ. It doesn’t change us, it doesn’t make us closer to God or more spiritual than we were if we do it more often.

Now, the important thing to remember there is it’s once after salvation. If you have been baptized but haven’t had relationship with Jesus yet, then you weren’t baptized, you were just stuck in some water once and we need to get that right.

I thought I was saved when I wasn’t and that’s what I got - I got wet for being a non-believer. Once I came into that true salvation and relationship with Jesus I had to make that right.

Jesus’ first act in ministry was His baptism, and its a part of the Great Commission after salvation.

The laying on of hands symbolizes the sharing of some blessings or the setting apart of a person.

Acts 6:6 ESV

These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands on them.

Matthew 19:13 ESV

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people,

Acts 13:3 ESV

Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

It’s symbolic - we do it because it confers that we are with them or sending them ot for the work of God.

The third way that explanation comes is

C. Future Events.

Hebrews 6:2b (ESV)

...the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

These are upward events, they have to do with the future. The Old Testament teaches a general resurrection, but does not make the doctrine clear. The New Testament teaches a resurrection of the saved, and also a resurrection of the lost.

The third word that speaks to our need for growing in our testimony is

3. Determination. - v.3

Hebrews 6:3 ESV

And this we will do if God permits.

Verse one says let us go on to maturity, verse three says this we will do if God permits. The lord will help us grow beyond the baby stage in our Christian lives. He will bring us to maturity in the Lord, if we allow Him to do so.

It really presents two truths.

The author is saying “I will go on and teach you what you need to know, if God permits me.” If we are disciples making disciples, this should be our desire. I love what it says in Matthew 9

Matthew 9:36–38 ESV

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Jesus has made a prayer request fo all of us. He asks for us to pray for laborers and then in 10:1

Matthew 10:1 ESV

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

He tells them to pray, and then He sends them to work.

And the second truth from this passage is “you will go on to maturity, if God permits.”

Both of these must be energized by the Holy Spirt if we are to be effective and fruitful. Everything revolves around the permission of God because we need His divine enablement.

That doesn’t mean we don’t seek His enablement or His truths, we can’t be lazy about our faith. It means that if we are seeking His face and His will then He will show us and energize us toward that effort.

Let’s pray.

Father God help us to grow up through Your Word. Show us our next steps in following you, lead us to mature Christians to help us to mature. Thank you piercing through our hearts and souls and Lord we ask that you convict us to lean on you so that we develop our relationship with You.

As you keep praying today, do you consider yourself a mature believer? Do you study daily, do you look forward to being with God every day, do you share Jesus with others? Is there someone that you could be sharing that experience with? Would you consider taking a believer that doesn’t have that or that wants more of that under your wing and being a disciple maker either in a one-on-one or in a group of individuals? If so I want to ask you to do something - fill out a connect card and just give me your name and write I want to disciple someone today - and if God has layed someone on your heart write that on there too. I’ll contact you in the coming weeks so we can have a cup of coffee or something and discuss what that looks like and equip you as needed - let’s be disciples making disciples.

Father, speak to our hearts. Show us what it is to be disciple makers for your heavenly Kingdom. Direct our hearts to those that need to grow up in You.

Remaining with our heads bowed and eyes closed, no one looking around, who here would say that they need to grow up? Who here are lazy in their development and need to be actively discipled? In that same sense, grab a connect card today, fill in your name, and say I want to grow up, I want to be matched with a mature believer. And the same thing, we’ll get together over coffee or something and we’ll talk about what that looks like and we’ll try to match you with that mature believer so that you can regain that holy fire for Jesus and so that you become that mature believer discipling others - being God’s masterpiece for multiplying the Kingdom.

Father, help us to be honest with ourselves right now as Your Word tells us to work our our salvation with fear and trembling. Humble us right now God to seek your Kingdom and it’s glory.

And as you remain in prayer there are some here that may have realized that they don’t have a relationship with Christ. The world and Satan is telling you that you’re ok, you don’t need Jesus - but the problem is that you can never be good enough or do enough to save you. That’s the reason Christ came, because none of us could ever be righteous enough to get to Him on our own. And right now you feel like the Word of God has spoken to you today and you feel like there’s something missing. And if that’s you, there is something missing, and that something is Jesus.

If that’s you, if God is calling to you to draw into a relationship with Jesus, answer Him today. If you don’t know how it’s as simple as ABC. You just talk to God in your own way and A- admit to God that you are a sinner, B-believe that Jesus came to redeem you through that sinless life, death, and resurrection, and C- confessing Christ as Lord and Savior with your mouth, choosing to follow Him. It just goes a little like this:

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. Lord I believe that you came to free me from the bonds of sin and death and Lord I thank you for what only you could do. Lord I choose you, to follow in all that you are and to walk in the Spirit in a relationship with you, and to spend eternity with you. In Jesus name, amen.

Keeping every head bowed and every eye closed, as the music continues to play softly just for a moment.

If you need someone to pray with you just come forward and let us know and someone will come to pray with you. Answer His call today, come as He leads.

Father, thank you again for this body, and Father as you are speaking to those here today, I pray that we will follow you where you lead, that we will see you revealed, and that we will follow in your presence today.

Questions for the Week:

1. Where would you place yourself on a scale of 1-10 in spiritual maturity, with 1 being a baby and 10 being Jesus?

2. What discipleship activities are you doing to continually mature in Christ? Are you joined in the faith with another believer or group of believers, or are you only fed on Sunday morning milk?

To join a group, or to seek opportunities be discipled/mentored by another believer or if you are a mature believer to actively participate in the discipleship of another, contact Pastor Jeremy at [e-mail] or complete a connect card with your information.