Another warning, keep on growing and don't fall away
Notes
Transcript
Inmaturity in a young child is expected.
When a little one responds by sulking or spitting the dummy we understand that they haven’t grown up yet and don’t know how to deal with disappointment.
Sadly some adults haven’t grown up and display very similar behaviours in how they deal with life.
They throw a tantrum, sulk or refuse to face the challenges of life by displaying avoidence behaviours such as running from issues.
You have probably come across people like this and quite frankly it is embarassing to watch and really annoying to deal with.
Now if you were to be really honest with yourself you would admit that there are areas in your life where you struggle to deal with things in a mature way.
You are tempted to spit the dummy, to sulk and there are things that you avoid for as long as you can.
It is a journey, but there is a distinct difference between immature behaviour, a refusal to grow up and finding some things harder to face.
The writer to the Hebrews clearly sees that his readers have refused to grow up in their faith.
To use a concept from theatre they are like Peter Pan in J. M Barrie’s classic tale of a boy who refuses to become a man.
In a similar fashion some Christians refuse to grow up in Christ.
Have a look at Hebrews 5:11-14
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. You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
Right in the middle of a major exposition setting out the nature of Christ’s priesthood the writer breaks his line of arguement to make a point that his readers should understand this concept.
He shouldn’t have to explain it to them but they aren’t mature like they should be, instead they are still like infants at the stage of being feed milk instead of solid food.
We need to understand that the theme that is being discussed, that of the priesthood of Melchizedek, the somewhat mysterious Old Testament character from the time of Abraham wasn’t a common theme in Judaism at that time.
But they should have grasped the concept by now that Christ is superior to all that came before.
Jesus is the superior High Priest and Sacrifice to all that they have known before.
The whole idea of the letter is that we have Christians from a Jewish background, some of whom were probably priests and Levites, people who worked in the temple.
People who should have understood the Scriptures and have been able to put together the concept of Christ’s sacrifice fulfilling all the requirements of the law.
Instead the author has written this letter because they are at risk of drifting back to their previous religion.
They are in danger of rejecting Christ and going back to that which is safe and comfortable.
This is why Hebrews 6:4-6 speaks as it does when it says
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
It is important to understand this passage in its context before deciding how we should understand it.
It was originally addressed to Jewish converts to Christianity.
People who knew the Scriptures of the Old Testament.
People who had been raised in a system of religious observance and practice.
People who belonged to a religious system which had rejected Christ and held his sacrifice in contempt.
If those who received this letter were to return to Judaism and thoroughly and completely reject Christ they would be guilty of the same sin that the leaders of Israel had committed when they set out to have Jesus executed.
They would in effect be crucifying Christ again.
To do so would indicate a hardening of the heart that reaches a point of no return.
The context is why we need to be carefully and not be to ready to apply this passage to a Christian who has backslidden and drifted away from the faith.
Only when a person truly hardens their heart and is contemptuous towards Christ in a way which demonstrates an impenetrable wall against the work of the Holy Spirit are they truly beyond repentance.
So please don’t lose hope for your children, siblings, spouse or parents who have drifted away or left the faith of their family because of some hurt or disappointment.
The path of repentence is still open to them.
To understand the concern of the writer to the Hebrews we need to see what Hebrews 6:7-12 has to say
When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it. Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.
They have not moved as far as they should have in their faith.
Yes they are caring for fellow believers but they lack assurance of salvation.
It could actually be the case that they are very zealous to do the right thing because they are still functioning with the understanding that works are necessary for salvation.
Their zeal to serve other believers reveals that there is still an elemnet of needing to earn merit with God in order to be assured of salvation.
Instead they need to recognise that such thinking is part of the curse of Genesis 3.
Thorns and thistles in Hebrews 6:8 allude to the curse of toil and work.
They need to rise above this understanding to a place of assurance of fiath and good works coming entirely out of love instead of seeking to please God and earn his favour.
So what does this mean for us today.
Christians who live in a different time and don’t have this Jewish background.
Quite simply I see in the church of today what many Pastors throughout history have also seen.
Scriptual knowledge as a substitute for spiritual maturity.
The milk of knowing lots and sitting in church every Sunday as oppossed to the solid food of living a life of love and service to those inside and outside the church.
The milk of today, the immaturity of today has similarities to the issues that the receipients of this letter faced.
Are you living a life based on assurance of your salvation, or do you live in doubt?
Do you live your life in the freedom of what Christ has done on the cross, or do you feel you have to earn God’s favour in some way?
Yes there is so much that we could all learn about the Scriptures and what they say about God.
But the reality is spiritual maturity is seen in how we live, not what we know.
The mature in Christ live with assurance, not doubt.
They love out of joy not out of works.
They actively seek opportunities to share Christ through deeds and words.
In the midst of the challenges of life they do not lose hope.
Instead they have that quiet assurance that in the midst of lifes struggles their eternity is secure and their hope assured.
My question for you today is what sort of faith do you desire.
A Peter Pan faith, one that refuses to grow up and presents a shallow picture of Christ.
Or a mature faith, one that rest on the work of Christ, not self.
One that is secure instead of insecure.
My friends maturity of faith is built upon the foundation of Christ, not self.
He has won the victory, he has assured your salvation, he has openned the door to walking each and every day in the power of the Holy Spirit, he is the one who gives us access to God.
That is why the writer to the Hebrews went on to say these words in Hebrews 10:19-23
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
It is Christ who has done the work.