Grow Up!
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
Key Point: Through hoping and trusting in the promises of God in Christ, we will grow up in our faith.
Get Off The Bottle! (5:11-14)
Get Off The Bottle! (5:11-14)
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 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.
After introducing the character of Melchizedek in verse 10, the author wants to expound upon the importance of Melchizedek. . . but instead. . . in these verses. . . he needs to take a detour into the third warning in the letter due to the laziness and carelessness of the Hebrews.
The difficulty did not necessarily lie in the subject of Melchizedek but instead in the laziness of the students.
The fact they “have become dull” implies that they were once growing in their faith. . . but they have begun to backslide and relapse into laziness. . . into their former manner of lives.
There is no such thing as a static Christian. . . we are either growing in our walk with Christ or becoming like babies and backsliding in our faith.
The phrase “by this time” in verse 12. . . implies that these Hebrews have been taught the word of a God for enough time to be teaching others, yet they have not grown up and still need someone to teach them the foundations of the faith.
All believers are not called to be teachers, but the author’s rebuke demonstrates that all believers are called to mature and grow up in their faith to the point that they can grasp Biblical truth, apply it to their lives, and teach and exhort others to follow Jesus.
All believers are called to make disciples and teach others “all that Christ has commanded us.”
In the second half of verse 12 and through verses 14. . . the author gives three metaphors that display a picture of immaturity and the need for the Hebrews to grow up.
v. 12b: Education
The Hebrews should be writing novels by now but they are needing someone to go back and teach them the ABC’s again.
v. 12b: Food
The Hebrews, who were growing have gone back to the bottle. They can’t digest solid food and still need milk. They were babies in their faith.
v. 13-14: Athletic Training
The word “unskilled” means they were inexperienced. . . they were rookies. . . they were newbies. . . when they should be veterans.
They were “unskilled in the word of righteousness” meaning that they did not understand the doctrine of justification. . . that we are declared righteous by faith in Jesus. . . nor were they practicing righteousness in their lives.
This was a result due to a lack of training.
In contrast, those that have grown in their faith are able to eat solid food because they have “trained the powers of discernment” with constant practice.
The mature don’t take training days off. . . they don’t miss practice. . . despite what Allen Iverson said. . . practice is important!
As a result of this constant training, through a renewal of their minds by daily reading, studying, and applying God’s word. . . the mature are able to discern good from evil.
The mature don’t just have knowledge. . . but they have wisdom and discernment. . . they don’t just know the facts but they know how to live.
Where are you right now in your faith?
Have you been in church all your life but are still needing someone to teach you the ABC’s of the Christian faith?
Have you begun to teach others how to follow Jesus and disciple others. . . feeding others milk. . . or do you still need someone to feed you a bottle?
The call for all of us tonight is to get off the bottle!
As we will see in verses 1-3. . . we must press on to maturity. . . we must grow up!
Grow Up! (6:1-3)
Grow Up! (6:1-3)
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.
Since the Hebrews are still on milk and are not mature, the author urges them to progress forward from the foundational doctrines of the faith to grow in maturity.
These foundational doctrines refer to the OT principles of the faith that were spoken of “long ago” (from Heb. 1:1).
“leave” does not imply forgetting or to discarding, but implies building upon something.
Think about it like building a house. . . if you have already built and laid the foundation. . . it would be foolish to continue to lay another foundation again. Instead, wise builder will progress forward and build the rest of the structure the house upon the foundation.
The foundation is important and vital to the strength of the house. . . but for the house to be completed, the builder must progress forward. . . not laying another foundation. . . but building upon it.
So what does it look like to build upon the foundations of our faith? What are the foundations of our faith?
"Oracles" in 5:12 and “elementary doctrines of the faith in 6:1. . . refer to the words or teachings of God.
These teachings are classified into three sections that symbolize OT themes that were foundational to the revelation of the Messiah and his mission:
The core of covenant commitment: repentance and trust.
The basic teachings of salvation.
Cultic Cleansing for Covenant Communion: Washings (Heb. 9:10) and the laying on of hands (on sacrificial animals, symbolizing transfer of worshipers’ guilt to substitutes) (Heb. 9:7, 11-14; Lev. 8:14-22; 16:21-22).
The basic teachings of sanctification through the work of the Spirit.
Covenant Sanctions of Blessing and Cursing: Resurrection and Eternal Judgment.
The basic teachings of glorification/eschatology
**These were part of the basic Hebrew Catechism that was used in Jewish Churches**
So, we are to get off the bottle and start eating solid food. . . we must stop acting like babies and grow up in our faith. . . and we must rely on God’s grace to aid us as we work hard in pursuing spiritual growth
But what happens if we never grow up and we don’t press on to maturity in our faith?
Verses 4-8 give a sober warning that if after being taught these foundational principles time and time again. . . but we never grow up, it may be an indication that we are not even alive. . . but are still dead in our sin and separated from Christ.
No Growth=No Life (6:4-8)
No Growth=No Life (6:4-8)
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
I want to make clear that the purpose of this text is not to teach that these Hebrew Christians could lose their salvation, for in the immediate context of the letter, the author has already made clear that this is not a possibility (Heb. 5:9; 7:23-25), and the rest of Scripture confirms that Christian cannot lose their salvation (John 10:27-28; Eph. 1:4; 4:30; Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:35, 38-39; 1 Pt. 1:3-5).
Instead, the author uses this warning to distinguish between those in the community of the Hebrews who may not be true believers. For if some from the community do “fall away” the author makes clear that they were never truly apart of the community in the first place (1 John 2:19-20).
Each one of these descriptions. . . “being enlightened,” “tasting the heavenly gift,” and “sharing in the Holy Spirit,” are not descriptions of someone who has been transformed by the Spirit internally, but instead are descriptions of someone who has observed and been a part of the work of the Spirit externally.
We can liken these experiences to the people of Israel in the wilderness.
They were a part of the covenant community.
They heard the word of God.
They were companions with the Holy Spirit
But, they hardened their hearts, did not believe, and did not enter God’s rest.
We can also see an example in the life of Judas Iscariot.
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
One Bible Commentator says:
“But the danger of willful apostasy (falling away), from which repentance is impossible, is real. It remains true that no one to whom Christ has given eternal life can be snatched out of his hand (John 10:29-30).
But one can be a member of a church, hear God’s word and see his Spirit’s works, yet nevertheless harden one’s heart against God’s voice, as some Israelites did (Heb. 3:1-4:13; Acts 8:13, 18-24; 2 Pet. 2:1; Jude 4).”
Next, In verses 7-8, the author uses an agricultural analogy in comparing two pieces of land and how they respond to the same amount of rain. He uses this analogy to demonstrate the difference between externally experiencing God’s blessings and the internal response of the heart.
One land produces a crop and is useful through being cultivated and is blessed by God.
The other piece of land produces thorns and thistles, not crops, showing it is worthless, cursed, and will end up being burned (symbolizing judgment).
This analogy points back to Jesus’s teaching on the parable of the soils (Matt. 13:3-8, 18-23).
How do you know if a plant is alive?. . . It is growing and producing fruit.
So. . . where there is life, there is growth. . . Therefore. . . we must continue to grow in our faith and press on to maturity.
If we are not growing, we need to examine our hearts and look at the roots in of what we believe to see if we are in the faith.
Is our life producing thorns and thistles in a love for the world and disobedience against God as a result of receiving the rain of his word. . . or are our lives growing and producing the fruit of a godly life as a result?
So, how are we to respond to this warning and call to grow up?. . . How can we grow up in our faith?
Verses 9-20 tell us The answer is the same to both of these questions. . . we must hold fast to our hope in Jesus
Response: Hold Fast to Your Hope in Jesus (6:9-20)
Response: Hold Fast to Your Hope in Jesus (6:9-20)
In verses 9-12. . . Even though the author warns the Hebrews, he believes that they will not fall away and remain in their immaturity due to work and love they have shown in serving the saints.
If they persevere in their faith, they will inherit the promises given to the OT saints.
This promise refers to the eternal inheritance the Hebrews had in Christ and it is the same promise of eternal life that we also have through faith in Jesus.
But how sure is this promise??
After using Abraham as an example in verses 13-17, the author says that we can have hope that God’s promise will stand. . . and the reason we can have hope is because it is guaranteed by two unchangeable oaths that are made by God. . . who cannot lie!
so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
The hope that we have in Jesus is as sure and as a firm as an anchor that keeps the ship from drifting away. . . and in the same way. . . Christ Jesus is the anchor for our faith to keep our hearts from wandering and falling away.
The reason why Jesus is our hope is because he has “entered behind the curtain.”. . . which increases our assurance for two reasons:
First, as our representative and great high priest, he enters the presence of God the Father and intercedes for us and makes the sacrifice for us (in himself) to forgive us of our sins.
Second, as a forerunner who goes before us to make a way to the Father, we will follow in his steps and finally enter into the intimate communion with God and dwell in his glorious presence forever!
So we have reason to be optimistic—We have reason to know we will grow in our faith. . . because if we are trusting in Christ. . . we have a sure and steadfast hope. . . we have an anchor for the soul. . . that will never let us go astray.
So let us hold fast to Jesus tonight, get off the bottle, and grow up in our faith.
Let’s pray. . .