Sermon 2/22/04 am

Jim Huskey, Growth Required

We continue our look at the book of Hebrews. We have in recent lessons

looked at two principles - one regarding the superiority of the

priesthood of Christ and the changing of that priesthood requiring a

change in the law. In connection with that study of the superior

nature of Christ's priesthood, there are some things said that I want

us to look at again, looking at a different lesson, one that was needed

then and is needed today. In the fifth chapter of Hebrews, beginning

with verse 10, we read, "Called of God an high priest after the order

of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be

uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye

ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be

the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have

need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is

unskilful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. But strong

meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason

of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

Heb. 5:10-14.

One of the points the author made, and I believe made it very forcefully

here, is that God expects his children to grow. He expects them to

become mature christians. He expects them to reach the level where they

can discern properly and wisely. One of the things that has led to the

condition of the church in many places today is this very principle.

Things have been allowed to be brought in, doctrines have been allowed

to be taught that those who were spiritually mature would have never

suffered to be done. I'm afraid that while at one point in time

members of the church were known as walking Bibles, in a lot of areas

now they're not even walking, which will give a little play on the pun.

They don't have the spiritual strength to walk because they haven't

grown enough.

There are quite a few references to the need of spiritual development

and growth. The first thing I want us to notice here is that God

expects it. "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have

need that one teach you again..." Well if they ought to be by that

point, to me that suggests that God expects it of them, that God

expects us to grow and reach a point where we are capable of leading

others and instructing others and teaching others. You remember Paul

writing to the church at Corinth, in I Corinthians 3, and remember

the terrible condition of the church at Corinth. When we studied that

book we called it our "problem congregation", because they had just

about one of everything and more than one of some other things. He

said, beginning with verse 1 of I Corinthians 3, "And I, brethren,

could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even

as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat;

for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

For ye are yet carnal; for whereas there is among you envying, and

strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" I Cor. 3:1-3.

In other words, he said, 'there are some things I need to say to you,

but I can't say them because you're not able to handle them.' Well,

now I remember the Lord telling his apostles just before his death,

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."

John 16:12. The point is, there would come a time when they would be

able to bear them. He went on to say that "Howbeit when he, the Spirit

of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not

speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and

he will shew you things to come." John 16:13. He would bring to

remembrance the things Christ had taught them. Paul said to those

Corinthians 'You haven't grown, haven't matured, haven't developed.'

But that was expected, as the Hebrew author said. "For when for the

time ye OUGHT to be teachers...." The apostle Peter wrote to the

christians, "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and

hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes,

desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."

I Peter 2:1,2. He ends the second letter with these words, "But grow

in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." II Peter 3:18. God

expects growth. In the book of Ephesians, chapter 4, Paul said

beginning with verse 11, "And he gave some, apostles; and some,

prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for

the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the

edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the

faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (mature)

man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that

we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried

about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning

craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth

in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even

Christ." Eph. 4:11-15. God expects growth, he expects us to mature,

he expects us to develop. In I Corinthians 13, the great chapter on

love, beginning with verse 10, Paul wrote, "But when that which is

perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When

I was a child, I spake as a child, I understand as a child, I thought

as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things."

I Cor. 13:10,11. All those passages imply that there is a need, even

a demand on God's part, for his people, that they grow and that they

mature.

What are some of the elements that are necessary if that growth and

development is going to occur? Let's notice what is said in the text.

"For when for the TIME ye ought to be teachers..." That tells me

immediately that TIME is an element that is involved in growth and

development. It does not occur over night. Just because it doesn't

occur over night does not meat it is not supposed to occur. It is

suppossed to occur; but it takes TIME. I'm sure, as we get older with

little ones around us, we forget that sometimes. I know I do. Little

ones are still little ones, and when we forget that sometimes we act

more childish than they do. TIME is involved. I never will forget

when Bart was born. He wasn't exactly a little thing at birth. The

football coach came to see him and said, "Reckon we could put a

uniform on him next week?" Well, he was big, but he wasn't that big.

You see, it takes times for a child to develop physically. There's a

period of time where we have to do everything for them, I mean everything.

All they can do is lay there and squeal, mess up diapers and eat. We

have to do everything for them. They can't get from one place to another,

they can barely turn over, we have to take care of them, do for them.

However, when that child is fifteen years old, still lying there in

diapers sucking on a bottle, we know there is something wrong. That's

not normal, that's not natural. So Paul said "...when for the TIME.."

This element of TIME is involved. It takes TIME. It takes some a

little longer than others. First-time parents get concerned. The

child is not coming to the table, crawling up in the high chair by

himself by the time he's nine months old and they worry, "My child is

not getting around like he should." If he's not putting 15-word

sentences together by a certain age they worry, "Something is wrong

with my child, he's not talking." I tell you this, he'll talk soon

enough and he won't stop. Why do these concerns occur? because all

are different. They progress at a different pace; it doesn't mean

they don't progress; they just progress at different paces. With

some it takes a little more TIME. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

It's the same spiritually, as long as we're making progress. So that

first thing needed is TIME for growth to occur.

The second thing needed is a proper diet. Now I want you to notice

what Paul said, "..ye have need that one teach you again which be the

first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have

need of milk, and not of strong meat." Now that tells me a little

something. I tells me that spiritual growth mirrors physical growth

and development. You remember when yours were first born. You didn't

hand them a T-bone steak to chew. No, they didn't have anything with

which to chew. Well, what happened? You started them out with milk

then you mixed a little pablum in the milk, then to a few fruits and

vegetables. Finally you got to the point to add meat. You remember

that stuff in those little old jars. I don't know how the kids eat

it, because it smells awful and tastes worse. But they do eat it and

it's evidently good for them. It seems to work. But that's all

been chewed up for them; that's the way I like to put it. Just put it

in their mouth and they swallow it. There comes a time, however, when

you hand them a chicken bone, nuckles removed, and let them begin to

exercise those jaws. The next thing you find is that you can hand

them a chicken bone that has meat on it. They begin to grow and

develop. If that child does not progress physically, and is not given

proper diet, what happens? They get sick. We see these pictures all

time on TV where children in certain parts of the world are mal-nourished

because they don't have proper food. What happens to them? They die.

What happens spiritually to the person who does not have proper food?

He dies !!!!! Over and over again throughout the New Testament there

is that strong encouragement to grow. A babe has to start out on the

milk, but eventually he progresses to that strong meat. So we must

have the element of TIME and the element of PROPER DIET. That's one

of the problems with the church in many areas today. It's not been

fed a proper diet. It's weak spiritually. Let me add this real

quickly. We have an individual responsibility to grow. "Search the

scriptures..." John 5:39. Paul told Timothy to "Study to show thyself

approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly

dividing the word of truth." II Tim. 2:15. We must make an effort

ourselves. As I said, there's a point in that baby's life when it

cannot get what it needs or what it wants for itself. It can't get

around. However, I remember when mine were young. Not only did they

not just lie there and kick and wait for somebody to bring them

something, they learned to climb, begin to find ways to get to what

they wanted. If the cookie jar is sitting on top of the refrigerator

the child eventually learns to get a chair from the dining table,

climb up on that chair, up on top of the cabinet, then to the top of

the refrigerator and get the cookie. That's natural. The child is

learning to do for himself/herself. Maybe we need more spiritual

children crawling up on the top of the refrigerator and getting to

the cookie jar to try to get some food for themselves !!!!!!

So there must be TIME and there must be the PROPER DIET. Then there

must be EXERCISE. Every time we turn on TV now there is one thing

we keep seeing repeated over and over again. That is that our

society is becoming obese couch potatoes, which means they're sitting

in front of the TV and these games, not getting the physical exercise

their body needs. When they don't get the physical exercise their

body needs, they're going to be sick a lot. Well, when we don't get

the spiritual exercise we need, we're going to be sick a lot,

spiritually. That exercise is needed to help the developmental

process. You remember all the things your children went through

learning to walk and get around. They had to put forth some effort.

They had to begin to learn to use the muscles that were there, though

under-developed, in their bodies, so they learned to crawl, they

learned to pull up and stand by holding on to things, then they

learned up get up and stand, walk, run, then they learned to get into

everything. What happened? The EXERCISE they were getting, working

those muscles, developing them, was making them stronger and stronger.

I'm afraid a lot of people in the church, however, figure all they

have to do is set there in church, get a dose, go home and everyting

will be fine. It won't be fine !!!! If we don't use what's there,

we'll lose it. We must apply it. That was the problem Paul was

discussing with these Jews who were wanting to leave Christianity and

go back into Judaism. He told them they needed somebody to teach

them again the base principles with which they had started. They should

have been able to teach others, but they were not able. They would have

to be re-taught. He said one of the reasons for that was that they had

not used what they had. They had not made application of the truth they

had been taught. Now we know from observance and from a practicle

standpoint concerning the spiritual body that what we don't use, we

lose. If you don't believe that, when you have nothing to do sometime,

make you a sling, put an arm in it and leave it there for a while.

Don't do anything with the arm, don't use it for anything, just let it

hang there in that sling for a few weeks, then take it out of that

sling and try to use it, then see what happens. Don't pick up anything

hot with the hand on that arm because it will be all over you. You

have to use what you have if you want to develop.

So there must be TIME, a PROPER DIET, and spiritual EXERCISE. What

did you say Paul? "...strong meat belongeth to them that are of full

age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to

discern both good and evil." It doesn't just happen. We must make it

happen. That was one of the points the Hebrew author was making to

those Jews who were turning their back on Christ. They had not used

what they had; they had gone back into the infantile stage, and they

should have been in adulthood. We see that in life; we see old men

act like two-year-olds when they don't get their way. In most cases,

it didn't just happen when they got old; they practiced it a long time

and by that time, they have it honed real well. There needs to be

development. Paul said 'When I was a child I acted like a child,

thought as a child, spoke as a child, but there comes a time when we

must put that away.' Some adults never learn that. We must become

adults.

Those are some important lessons from the book of Hebrews. We'll look

at another one in our study this evening. There are some principles

there we need to heed.