Toward Spiritual Maturity - Part 1 Series

Toward Spiritual Maturity

Part 1

Hebrews 5:11-6:3

Warning Signs of Arrested Development

Ears that Don’t Hear the Word (5:11)

Mouths that Don’t Speak the Word (5:12)

Stomachs that Don’t Digest the Word (5:12b-14)

What is Milk?

The basics of Salvation

The basics of the Church

The basics of End times

What is Meat?

Teaching about Righteousness

Definition: Holy and upright living, in accordance with God’s standard

Slide

Illustration – High School Reunion

Graduation parties are in full swing.

It has gotten me thinking about my own school years and the people I went to school with.

A few years ago, I went to my 20 year HS reunion. I saw a friend from HS that I hadn’t seen since the 10 year reunion and before that it was college since I had seen him.

Now in college, I hung out with him quite a bit my freshman year and we did a lot of things that college freshmen who don’t know the Lord do. But even as a non believer, I recognized that there were things that I would not be doing once out of college and in fact, I knew that I needed to make sure I did well in college because I had a future that I wanted to pursue and I knew that I needed to be growing in knowledge so I could have a decent future. It could not be just about having a good time now.

Well, after my sophomore year, our paths really never crossed until my 10 year high school reunion.

But when I ran into him, he was still living like a high school or college kid. It was really rather pitiful.

But then again, it takes some people longer to mature and he was only 28 years old at the time.

Well, a few years ago, I saw him at our 20 year reunion.

He hadn’t changed a bit, and I don’t mean that in the positive sense.

He lived to party and drink.

He had his license taken away because of his DUIs.

He had to get a different job because of his drinking.

He was unmarried and bopping around from girl to girl and job to job.

It was even more pitiful than 10 years earlier.

Because he should have been maturing over the years but he was still talking about and doing the same things he did in college,

the women he was with and

the partying he was doing.

There are times when, among people as they age, they wish they could go back to their younger years. But they want the energy and vitality they had.

Nobody I know wants to go back to that age and back to the maturity level they had then.

And that is not just Christians, that is true for people in general.

There were many people that were at that reunion who weren’t Christians who looked with pity upon this guy.

Because he should have been growing up and maturing over these 20 years, but he didn’t.

Transition

When people don’t mature like they should, we recognize that there is something wrong with that.

Well, the author of Hebrews confirms that we need to be moving toward Spiritual Maturity as well, or if we are not, there is something wrong.

Turn with me to

Hebrews 5:11

Slide

Here the author begins another warning to them about the Arrested Spiritual Development that many of them are experiencing and that is hindering them from becoming Spiritually Mature.

Hebrews 5:11-6:3

11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Heb 6:1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

In the first part of the text, the author begins by talking about their lack of Spiritual Growth being caused by their arrested spiritual development.

The author has some strong words for these people, because they were not as mature as they should be at this point, just like my friend from my high school reunion.

There was something wrong. And what was wrong was that they were suffering from Arrested Development.