Hebrews
Encouragement for a life of Faith
Part 5
“stunted”
Today we will continue our study of Hebrews
With sermon number 5
So far we have seen our writer
Proclaim Jesus as the answer
He is the real deal
Then we learned how the writer of this great book warned us about the dangers of drifting away from God’s word and how we can avoid that
The next week I titled the sermon pure hearts
We prayerfully took a hard internal look at our lives and our hearts and began making changes in the needed areas
We followed that sermon last week with
Sharper than a two edged sword
And that sermon is cowboy terms was a real mashing on
The writer showed us how God’s word is true and correct
He showed us there are no gray areas and he showed us how when applied properly to our lives
The written word of God will expose our true selves
Prayerfully as Our writer continues applying pressure
We will continue in our spiritual growth
That is the topic of today’s sermon
Spiritual growth
Personal spiritual growth
I have shared with you as a congregation many times and with some of you individually some of my experiences in Zambia Africa
I can tell you again that
The things we did
The people we were blessed to interact with
Changed my life forever
One of the jobs we went to Zambia to do was to evaluate the health of the people in the area especially the children
I can tell you this was a humbling experience
I love to talk about my time at Chogwe village
And will be glad to give you many more detail to the point of maybe even boring you
Any of you who have talked to me about this time of my life know I get pretty excited about it
But for today
I need to tell you
In my time in Africa I saw amazing thing and disturbing things
And
One of the most disturbing things I saw in that land so far from here was lack of good nutrition
Part of our assessment on the kids was to do height /weight measurements as well as an overall physical assessment
The one common problem that I saw over and over was that the kids were malnourished
I was assessing kids that I thought were 3 or 4 years old that when questioned turned out to be 6 or 7 or even 8
We were in a farming area, so food was available
That made it more surprising that so many of these children were undernourished or even malnourished
That is until I learned more about their diets
A staple in the diet of Zambians is a food called Shema
It is made or ground corn called mealy meal
What it is- is basically boiled corn meal
No salt – no pepper, no seasonings
They boil corn meal in a pot to the consistency of raw bread dough
You pull out a piece from the pot
Roll it into a ball
And then eat it with every meal
Actually forks and spoons are so rare in the area we were in that they kind of soaped their food with Shema eating with their fingers
The fingers part had a lot to do with their health as well
Water was a luxury there and cleanness was never seemed to be a priority
I could go on for days about that
But back to the Shema
Shema is supposed to be an add on to a meal
Like a piece of cornbread with your beans or a biscuit with your gravy
It was never intended to be a staple
The problem was the Kids liked it so much that that is all they wanted to eat
The other problem was that Shema has very little nutritional value
So while having full bellies
The kids were starving to death due to lack of protein and other needed nutrients
This brings us to today’s teaching from Hebrews
Please open your bibles to Hebrews 5
Let me read for you Hebrews 5:12-14
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.[a] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
6:1-3
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds[a] and placing our faith in God. 2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
I love the book of Hebrews
I love the way the writer just jumps right in
He does not beat around the bush
Does not try to fluff people
Or even take time to introduce himself
He just jumps right in
And tells it like it is
I believe we need more of that in today’s world
From lying politicians to a bias media
To preachers watering down the gospel with promises of health wealth and prosperity
To everyone worried about political correctness
We often have trouble receiving the truth
So I really admire the writer of this great book
In this chapter
He says to his audience
And to us in the process
That we need to grow and mature in our faith
And failing to do so make us like babies
Malnourished
Like those stunted kids in Zambia
But
Malnourished spiritually not physically
He says we need to move from the things we like
Milk- Shema- No pressure preaching-watered down gospel- tickle you ears theology
To the things we need for growth—
Meat- Protein- All of God’s word- even the – no especially the hard stuff
We need to know about God’s love
But we need to know about his judgment as well
Let’s break down this passage of scripture and see how we can apply the writer’s words to our lives
Before I do let me recap the first portion of chapter 5
Our writer continues on with his teaching concept about Jesus as our High Priest
I have not spent a lot of time yet on this subject on Sunday Mornings
But we will camp out on the topic in a few weeks
Once again if you want to dig deeper or know more
Please pray about attending our Sunday Morning round pen bible studies
Where we dig lot deeper
I can tell you I have to study a lot harder because the ones who are coming are demanding more meat
And growing in the process
This brings us to verse 12
“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.”
The writer is telling his audience that there is a lot more to teach about Jesus as our High Priest
There is so much more to teach about Living the Christian life
There is so much more to learn
But
Due to lack of growth
Spiritual growth
They are not ready to hear it
Hebrews and the topics taught in it are difficult to understand
And in order to fully comprehend it we must be maturing Christians
We must be growing spiritually
Today I want to look at what keeps us from doing that
Growing spiritually
And
The results of not growing spiritually
And
Prayerfully as we see the reasons and the consequences of not growing spiritually
We can be encouraged for the things we are doing right
And we can learn to use the Sharp edge of God’s word to expose what we are doing wrong
And make corrections as needed
Let’s go back to God’s word to see why we sometimes do not grow
Verse 11
“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.”
Our writer is trying to teach deeper
But his audience is not getting it
The Cowboy Preacher in him comes out
He does not hold back even a little
He says in cowboy terms
Guys I want to show you more
But you aren’t listening
You see they were not applying the word to their daily lives
They did not see the significance of it
So they did not want to hear it
So they stopped listening
--Pause---
God speaks to us Cleary in his word
As I said last week there are not gray areas in God’s word
But
When we don’t understand what it says
When we don’t like what it says
When we don’t see the importance of what it says
We often quit listening
Thinking if we don’t hear
Then it doesn’t apply
That is not the case
Ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it
Sometimes we don’t listen because we have not been taught how
Maybe you have never been shown the application of scripture in your daily life
Maybe someone in your past used big words that you did not understand
And never took the time to explain them
Maybe no one ever explained the importance of spiritual growth to you
So you became dull in your hearing and stunted your growth
In order to grow spiritually we must sharpen our hearing and listening skills
That’s part of my job
To teach you how
But learning is up to you
I will fill your plate
But it is up to you to eat
It is up to you to Ask questions when we don’t understand something
It is up to you to dig into God’s word for answers
It is up to you to develop your study skills so we can hear what God is telling you
Another big reason for lack of spiritual growth is
The word becomes a burden
You don’t like or understand what it says
So maybe reading God’s word becomes a chore instead of a joy
Maybe the concepts and rules it presents go against your own view of the world and how things should work
Let me tell you when you and God don’t agree on a topic
It is not God that has the wrong view
In the case of understanding
If you are reading a translation of the bible that you don’t understand
Get one that you do
If your Momma always told you only the King James is really a bible and you can’t get past that
Read one you understand and compare it to the one you grew up on
I can’t tell you how many people have come to me with tears in their eyes
Saying I’ve been reading the bible all my life and I never understood it
Until I read it in a language I could understand
Listen
Reading the bible should never be a chore
It should be something we look forward to
My quiet time is the highlight of my day
f reading the word has become a burden
I plead with you to pray to God to help you read and understand his word
Pray for him to show you how to apply his word
Start a bible reading plan
There are thousands out there
1 John 5:3
“ Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome”
We learn his commandments by reading his word
And if read with the right heart it is not a burden
Not listening
Not reading
Allowing God and his word become a burden
Can stunt our growth
Another reason for not growing spiritually is
Excuses
My Dad always said
Excuses are like armpits
We all have them and they all stink
Well that ain’t what he really said but’
I think you get the picture
We tend to make excuses for all sorts of things in our lives
We don’t grow spiritually when we make excuses in the area of our faith
Maybe you make excuses about your choice to sin
And the word exposes that sin
So you turn from it
You know a kid will often hide something they broke
Thinking if no one can see it then they won’t get into trouble
Well you know how that usually works out
Same way with our sins
We saw last week how God’s word exposes all
Maybe you use the excuse
I’m just not getting fed
All the time being served a full meal but choosing
Milk
Choosing Shema instead of the meat that is being offered
Making an excuse that it is someone else’s fault that you are not growing
God’s word is full of nutrition for spiritual growth
But you must slide up to the table and eat when it is served
You may make excuses about why
You don’t come to church
Why you don’t fellowship
Why you don’t come to bible studies
Why you don’t take the time to study your own bible
Common excuses are
I don’t have time
Too many hypocrites
It’s boring
I don’t like this person or that person
I don’t like that preacher or what he says
Guys you can make excuses if you want
It’s your spiritual growth we are talking about
Or you can stop with the excuses
Admit the sin the word exposes
Find reasons to -----instead of excuses not too
Then you are taking steps toward the growth that God desires for you
Another reason for stunted spiritual growth
Is
When the word demands change
We refuse to change
God’s word was designed as I said last week
To expose our sin
Convict us of our sin
And cause us to change
To repent
Turn away from our sin
Turn towards Jesus
And
When we do that
When we truly change
We can’t help but grow
You see when we change our hearts
We change our minds
And when we change our minds
We change our thoughts
Our words
Our actions
When we are transformed by changing the way we think as Romans 12 says
We no longer object to the changes the word demands
We stop saying
That’s just the way I am
And start crying out to God
To make me into what you want me to be
There are thousands maybe millions of reasons why we don’t grow spiritually
But for today I have just a few more
We stunt our growth spiritually when we don’t listen
We stunt our growth spiritually when God, his word and all he stands for becomes a burden
We stunt our growth spiritually when we continue to make excuse for our sins
We stunt our growth spiritually when we refuse to be changed by the word
And we stunt our growth
Because
We often choose Worldly wisdom over Godly wisdom
We often choose Worldly wisdom over Godly wisdom
You may be asking
What does he mean by that?
“ I don’t get it Big Dan” like from our wrap up of Exodus
Listen
Let me give you a few examples
There are many,many more but here are a few
If you are thinking about getting a divorce
The world
Your friends
And maybe even some of your family
Will tell you
“You deserve to be happy”
They may tell you it’s a good idea
They tell you --you can start over
Just quit and hit reset
Godly wisdom says
That God hates divorce
Godly wisdom says we should seek counseling
Try to fix the relationship
Godly wisdom says we are to love like he loves
And when we do that
We are far less likely to need or want a divorce
In other areas
The world says
If it feels good do it
God calls it sin
The world says everyone else is doing it
God says we are to come out from among them and be different
The world says
Well at least I’m not as bad as he is
God says we are all sinners
He says we all fall short
And then he gives us a way to get right- His living word – Jesus Christ
You see
Taking the wisdom of the world is a pattern for disaster in our spiritual walk
Adopting the pattern of the world can stop our spiritual growth
Remember Paul says in Romans 12
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
If we want to grow spiritually and get all God has for us we must rely on HIS wisdom and turn our back on the so called wisdom of this wicked world
The next is such a common reason for not growing spiritually that it is scary
We think we have grown enough
We think we are already smart enough
We think we are already mature enough
We think we have reached the finish line
You see many think because they have been Christians for years that make them spiritually mature
This comes from pride and nothing else
Refer back to Hebrews 5
Our writer thumps those who want to say or worse yet believe that ---instead of moving towards real maturity
“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.[c] You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.”
Let me tell you
Spiritually maturity has nothing to do with age or the time that we have been a believer
I know 80 and 90 year old Christians that that have been believers for years that are spiritual infants and are still on Milk
And I know teenagers who have been saved a short time that are spiritual Giants Feasting on Prime Rib
Time is not the indicator of spiritual maturity
You see
You can have been a believer for years but Stopped at the cross
What do I mean by this?
Many in Christianity think of the cross as the finish line
They get saved and they stop
They stop growing
Stop learning
Stop maturing
They get used to the milk
Come to actually prefer it
And they get stunted
No pressure Christianity
Not being transformed by the word
Others regardless of age come to the cross and see it as the starting point of the Christian walk
They have a passion for the word
They have a passion for the work
And as a result they grow
And in that growth they find the greater things that Jesus has for them
This is High pressure Christianity
And this is where we find the meat- the solid food
And it is that ----that makes us grow
Verse 13
For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
So preacher you’ve told us all about why we don’t grow spiritually
Not listening
Letting God be a burden
Making excuses
Refusing to change
Choosing the world over the Lord
Thinking we are already there
And in doing so you have shown us how to grow
But I Just want to come to church
I don’t want to be changed
I don’t want to grow
Preacher
Is there anything wrong with that?
I’m glad you asked
Those kids in Zambia that chose Shema over better food
Chose Shema over healthy food
Stunted their growth
And in doing so they became susceptible to much worse things
Due to their poor health
They became weak and susceptible to other more serious problems
That is what happens to us
When we stunt our spiritual growth by not moving from Milk to Meat
By not moving on to solid food
We become and weak susceptible to the lies of Satan and this evil world
We become unproductive in our Christian life
We may be saved but we are not doing anything for God
So we are really playing for the other team
God’s word says they will know us by our fruit
But we aren’t producing any
We take the chance of becoming spiritually blind
This means we can no longer see right and wrong
No longer seeing how our sin separates us from God
Or worse no longer caring
And we drift away- Losing focus, priority, passion, commitment and compassion
Hardening our hearts
Losing our purity
We lose our tolerance for the true word of God
We don’t stand on our faith or stand up for our faith
And we often allowing others to sell us lies
Listen to me
If something is not growing
It’s dying
Close from the heart
Pray
