Principles of Spiritual Growth
Hebrew 5:5-14
Intro.
* Children can be so much fun and entertaining sometimes.
* They sometimes surprise us at how quickly they grow up.
* Humor - Playing House
A little girl and a little boy were at day care. The girl approaches the boy and says, "Hey Tommy, wanna play house?"
He says, "Sure! What do you want me to do?"
The girl replies, "I want you to communicate your thoughts."
"Communicate my thoughts?" said a bewildered Tommy. "I have no idea what that means."
The little girl smirks and says, "Perfect. You can be the husband."
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Being a parent changes everything. But being a parent also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child is different from having your first.
…from - http://www.basicjokes.com/djoke.php?id=710
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Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.
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Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress - a whimper, a frown-you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.
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Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby’s bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.
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Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby’s diapers every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.
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Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.
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At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.
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Swallowing Coins
1st child: when first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: when 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: when 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!
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* Children are fascinating and fun while they are children.
* But there comes a day when you expect them to grow up.
-- You stop carrying them everywhere and they begin to walk on their own.
-- You stop feeding them from a bottle, and then a spoon, and then they feed themselves.
-- You stop giving them everything and they start to work to provide for themselves.
* It is a sad fact that our churches today are full of spiritual babies (infants).
* The church of Corinth was full of spiritual babies and it was one of the most troublesome churches in the NT.
1Cor 3:1-3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. (2) 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. (3) For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
* Babies get upset over the smallest things.
* They throw tantrums when they don’t get what they want.
* Basically, they are selfish and want what they want, when they want it.
-- They don’t think about others and their needs; only themselves and their own needs.
? What do we need to do to grow up spiritually?
? What does it take to become spiritually mature?
Principle number 1 ...
I. There is no such thing as instant maturity.
* The Bible describes becoming a Christian as being "born again".
* Just as physical life has a beginning, spiritual life has a beginning.
* Illus- A baby born today will not be mature 6 months or a year from today.
* You can’t walk an aisle or make a one time decision in church that is going to make you mature.
* You can’t have a one time spiritual experience that will make you instantly mature.
-- It doesn’t happen that way!
* God is in no hurry developing believers
* Illus. – Miles J. Stanford in one of his writings says it takes God 6 months to grow a squash, but it takes Him 100 years to grow an oak tree.
* We do not physically grow into mature adults overnight, and it is also true that we do not spiritually grow up to be spiritually mature overnight.
II. Our food for growth is the Word of God Heb. 5:12-13
* If we are to grow spiritually, we need a daily diet of the Word of God.
* Read, study, meditate, memorize, & sing the word of God.
* Paul put it this way in :
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
* Our food for growth is not entertainment, BUT God’s truth.
-- Pulpits are becoming stages for entertainment rather than podiums for declaring God’s Truth.
-- Music groups come to perform rather than minister to hearts.
-- Some TV preachers have fallen into the trap of being entertainers rather than messengers of God’s truth.
* Illus.- TV is what people turn to for entertainment and amusement, not spiritual instruction.
* "Amusement" – "Muse"- means meditate or think… "a" in front means NON
-- so Amusement means "No Think"
* What a tragedy that God’s people are no longer challenged to think about God’s truth.
III. We cannot grow up without the application of God’s truth Heb. 5:14
* Exposure to God’s word is not enough
-- It is necessary, but it is not enough!
* To live a healthy life physically, we need to both eat and exercise!
- Don’t become a spiritual "couch potato"!
* Illus. – "Practice makes perfect" -- In spiritual realm..."Practice makes mature!"
* Suggest 3 things that hinder the application of truth… that keep us from being doers of the Word.
A) dull ears Heb. 5:11
Heb 5:11 "Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing."
-- spiritual perception isn’t up to par
-- slow to hear – idea of a slow learner
-- to be slow and sluggish in mind as well as in the ears
Heb 5:11 –Message- "I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening."
* They had been slow to understand the great truths of the gospel
* The fault did not lie with the writer of Hebrews but with the hearing of the listeners.
* The writer admits that some things are difficult to understand but he also confirms that they should have been able to comprehend the truths he was teaching.
B) Hard heart Heb. 4:7
Heb 4:7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
* Writer is not speaking of the blockage of an artery in our physical heart.
-- We use the term – "hard hearted"
-- It describes a "stubbornness"
Idea of "being unmoved emotionally" …being resistant to someone (God)
* A hard heart can cause us not to apply God’s truth.
C) Traditional thinking Matt. 15:1-6
Mat 15:1-6 Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, (2) Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. (3) But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? (4) For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. (5) But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; (6) And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
* The traditional teaching of scribes and Pharisees contradicted the teaching of Scripture.
-- It was their teaching that money that should be used to provide for the needs of parents could be declared a gift to God and they could avoid caring for their parents.
W. Wiersbe - "Our Lord’s reply to their charge began with an accusation (Mat_15:3). It was they who were breaking God’s Law by practicing their traditions! He then proceeded with an illustration (Mat_15:4-6), their practice of “Corban” (see Mar_7:11). The Hebrew word Corban means “a gift.” If a Jew wanted to escape some financial responsibilities, he would declare his goods to be “Corban — a gift to God.” This meant he was free from other obligations, such as caring for his parents. But in so doing, the person was losing the power of God’s Word in his life, and thus hurting his character and missing God’s blessing."
* Traditional thinking can keep us from being doers of the Word.
* Listen and apply God’s truth.
* Jesus calls a man who hears God’s word BUT does not do God’s word – a foolish man who builds his house on sand.
* God did not give us His word to give us a bigger head but a bigger heart.
* It’s not what we know, it’s how we live that makes the difference!
1Cor 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (2) And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. (3) And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
IV. We cannot grow up eating only milk Heb. 5:13
* Milk is necessary for babies BUT God did not intend for us to grow up with bottles in our hands.
1Pet 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
* What is milk? - pre-digested food
* Babies need predigested food.
* But we can’t grow up if what the Pastor has digested(studied) is our only source of nourishment
* If you are going to grow up you must learn to prepare your own meals.
* Dig out the food you need to get through each day.
* v. 12 – get past the fundamentals, foundational truths, ABC’s
V. We must have a balanced diet Matt. 4:4, 2 Tim. 3:16
Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
* All Scripture!
* Not just the NT, but also the OT.
* If we are not careful, we will only want to eat sweets.
* Illus - Mom used to say, "Eat those vegetables"
-- We need to eat what we don’t like sometimes.
* We need a balanced diet.
* One of the reasons I prefer expository preaching is it gives us a balanced diet of God’s word.
* It’s not healthy to eat only and always the sweet things in life and never some of the more nutritious foods.
-- You can survive on sweets BUT you can’t live a healthy life
VI. We cannot grow up without a dependence upon the Holy Spirit Gal. 3:3
Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
* " Do you think you can continue the Christian life by the power of the flesh?"
* " Can you become mature on your own?"
* " Do you think you can do this by yourself?"
* For too long Baptist have ignored the teaching of Scripture concerning the Holy Spirit.
* Perhaps that’s the reason there is so little maturity in the church today.
* How many in the church today…
-- know how and what it means to be filled with the Spirit?
-- know how to "walk in the Spirit"?
-- know what it is to live in the Spirit?
* I know we don’t even have to understand it, to be able to do it, but you do if you are going to be able to teach others.
* We can’t go on and grow up without depending upon the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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