PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON MILK
1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12-13
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Cow Jokes
Q: What do you call cattle with a sense of humor? A: Laughing stock.
Q: What do cows get when they are sick? A: Hay Fever
Q: Why do cows wear bells? A: Their horns don't work.
Q: What kind of milk comes from a forgetful cow? A: Milk of Amnesia
Q: Where do cows go when they want a night out? A: To the moo-vies!
Q: What do you call a cow with a twitch? A: Beef Jerky
Q: What was the bull doing in the pasture with his eyes closed? A: Bull-dozing
Q: What is it when one cow spies on another cow? A: A steak out.
Q: Did you hear that NASA recently launched a bunch of Holsteins into low Earth orbit? A: They called it the Herd Shot 'Round The World!
Q: What do you call a cow that doesn't give milk? A: A MILK DUD!
B. TEXT
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” 1 Pet. 2:2.
C. THESIS
1. We’re going to look tonight at how believers ought to love the Word, the signs of a spiritual baby, and what steps they can take to grow up.
2. The title of this message is “People Who Live On Milk.”
I. REAL BELIEVERS CRAVE THE WORD
A. THE WONDER OF MILK
1. Milk is an amazing beverage. Human children routinely live on nothing but mother's milk for six months to a year, and many go as long as two years. By then they’re walking & talking!
2. Someone said, “We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk, and the next Twenty-four years telling them to sit down and shut up!”
3. In order for milk to sustain a child for two years, it has to be a perfect food. It has to provide every nutrient a child needs in exactly the right proportions.
B. CRAVING SPIRITUAL MILK IS NATURAL
1. Babies have a natural instinct to instantly go to their mother's breast and drink its milk. It's the same way for spiritual infants: we should automatically crave the milk of the Word of God!
2. Strong desires and affections for the Word of God are a sure evidence of a person's being born again. A new life requires suitable food. When people are born again, they should desire the food suitable to that nature.
3. What’s the ultimate end of consuming the milk? To grow in Christ. Milk is a precious commodity. Canaan was called “a land flowing with Milk and honey;” a land of rare and choice good things.
4. Peter said we are to “desire” (KJV) or “crave” (NIV) the Word. The Greek word is epipotheo [1971] – to yearn, dote upon, intensively crave :- desire, long, lust. We’re to long for, desire, crave the pure spiritual milk of the Word of God!
5. Have you ever seen baby birds open wide their mouths when their mother brings them food? That’s the way believers should eagerly desire spiritual food.
II. BELIEVERS ARE SUPPOSED TO GROW UP
A. LIVING ON MILK IS UNNATURAL
1. According to estimates, 2/3 TO 3/4 of the world's adult population can’t digest lactose, the main sugar in milk. At around age 5, lactase (the chemical to break down lactose) production decreases, possibly to help facilitate weaning.
2. It’s NOT NATURAL for a five year old to continue to live on milk. In fact, drinking only milk will begin retarding growth.
B. CHRISTIANS IN PERPETUAL INFANCY?
1. Strangely, the Bible speaks of Christians who want to remain in a state of perpetual infancy. They become geriatric spiritual babies who love to be entertained and amused like their counterparts in the nursery, but balk at moving on to Christian service.
2. Paul said to the Corinthians, “Brothers [and sisters], I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?” 1 Cor. 3:1-3.
C. WHAT SPIRITUAL BABIES LOOK LIKE:
1. FOCUSING ON PREACHERS instead of on the Lord. Some were chasing Apollos, some Paul, and some Peter.
a. Some people jump from one church to another seeking this or that ministry, never recognizing they already possess God’s message where they are!!!
b. Paul said, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe…. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” 1 Cor. 3:5-6.
2. WORLDLY BEHAVIOR. Paul pointed out jealousy, strife & divisions. They were so far from forming their lives upon the ground of the Word of God, and entering into the spirit of the Gospel, that it was evident they were under the sway of the world's influence.
3. INABILITY TO SELF-FEED: (2 Tim. 2:15).
a. How often do pastors hear the complaint, “I’m not being fed here?” How is it you can’t feed yourself? One of the evidences of growth is that you don’t rely on the Pastor to feed you, but you learn to feed yourself!
b. The Christian should be able to pick up their own Bible and read it; to break through to God in prayer; to pray and receive a fresh anointing for service each day.
4. GROWN TO SUPERIOR THINGS.
a. Children often act out adult roles in play. Sometimes Christians fancy they’ve grown to a level of superiority. Their story is bigger, better than yours.
b. If this happens, spiritual pride results and a judgmental spirit begins to distort our closeness to God and relationships to others. This happened to the Corinthians.
5. CAN’T ARTICULATE THEIR FAITH.
a. “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. 5:12-13.
b. Here Paul speaks of believers who, because of unuse, have to keep learning the fundamentals all over again.
c. Like jabbering toddlers, these spiritual babies keep returning to the spiritual ABC’s and show no interest in going on to deeper things.
III. HOW DO SPIRITUAL BABIES GROW?
A. SPIRITUAL GROWTH ISN’T OPTIONAL
1. Having warned against the dangers of failure to grow up and make progress in the Christian life, the writer of Hebrews shows the process of moving forward towards maturity. He wrote,
2. “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case – things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” Heb. 6:9-12.
3. When we talk about spiritual growth we must make it clear that growth is not just an option for a Christian; growing up is the very definition of a Christian!
4. A Christian grows to be like Christ. This is a transformation much like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The process of this changing is described in 2 Cor. 3:18,
5. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”
6. HUMOR: SIGNS THAT YOU HAVE GROWN UP
a. Your potted plants are alive. And you can't smoke a one of them.
b. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.
c. You carry an umbrella & watch the Weather Channel.
d. You're the one calling the police because those darn kids next door don't know how to turn down the stereo.
e. Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
f. You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
g. Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
h. You no longer take naps from noon to 6 pm.
i. Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 am would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
B. HOW CAN BABES GROW INTO ADULTHOOD?
1. FOCUS ON CHRIST.
a. Focusing on Christ himself will have a changing effect on whoever is able to see Christ clearly. We are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to the next.
b. It is a daily changing so that we become more like Christ (having his mind within us), and people are more able to see Jesus living within us with the passing of time.
2. FOCUS ON OTHERS (vs. 10).
a. The most amazing thing happens to those who quit focusing on themselves.
b. As Christians grow toward maturity, if they concentrate on the spiritual growth of others, they will find that it accelerates the spiritual growth in their own lives.
3. PUT THE WORD INTO PRACTICE.
a. Meat is not a proper food for babes; a baby would choke on a chicken leg! Young Christians can’t be expected to achieve all an older Christian can.
b. One person’s meat may be another person’s milk. But as we grow, we will put the Word into practice!
c. It’s like the difference between a Middle School student and a College Student. The Middle school student will assume that learning is limited to what the teacher gives in the classroom.
d. But the more mature college student has learned that what is expressed in the classroom is only the tip of the ice burg of truth, and that outside study of additional resources is the key to mastering a subject.
e. Similarly, the mature listen at church and to the Word, and then put the Word into practice in the laboratory of the world.
4. PERSEVERE TO THE END.
a. “What are qualities make a good leader?” My first answer was “staying power” and the second is a twin to it, “tenacity”.
b. One of them keeps you in the arena and the other gets you up if you get knocked down. The mature learn to persevere.
5. IMITATE PEOPLE OF GREAT FAITH. The Apostle ended with, “We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised” Heb. 6:12.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: NO HEIGHT WITHOUT DEPTH
1. A father and son were in a major city, walking along a street, downtown, when they noticed a skyscraper being built. There was an observation window where you could look in and see the construction going on. There was a very deep hole being dug.
2. The little boy thought in his mind, "My goodness! What are they building?" He was thinking it was going to be an awfully deep swimming pool.
3. But his dad pointed out other skyscrapers to him and said, "Look, son. That’s what they’re building -- skyscrapers."
4. The boy looked again and said, "Dad, they’re digging in the wrong direction. They’re digging down, not up.”
5. Then the father then had the opportunity to explain to his son that the only way to build a skyscraper was to begin with a very deep foundation.
6. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” 1 Cor. 3:11. 7. This was said to the Corinthians just after Paul challenged their maturity. We must have this Foundation!
B. THE CALL
1. There are no short cuts to maturity.
It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit.
2. When you try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. In America, tomatoes are usually picked unripened so they won’t bruise during shipping to the stores.
3. Then, before they are sold, these green tomatoes are sprayed with CO2 gas to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they are no match to the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato that is allowed to mature slowly.
[Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 217.]
[This message has contributions from Jeremy Simpson, Edward Skidmore, and Matthew Henry]
