GROW UP!
HEBREWS 5:12-14; 6:1-6
(Story of the Olsen twin with anorexia…) Anorexia is defined as: “a prolonged disorder of eating due to loss of appetite.” It is an eating disorder which causes you not to grow… Let me suggest to you today that the church is experiencing “Spiritual Anorexia…” We’re binging and purging… And when we do eat, we’re not eating the right stuff … (v 12) “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food…” We have become spiritual vegetarians and we are literally starving to death because we’re failing to grow in the things of God…
And as a result, we’re always whining and complaining; moaning and groaning… We can’t get to first base with God because we refuse to grow up… Why do we need to grow up…? Because playtime is over… The enemy is not playing with us; therefore we must be ready to deal with the issues of life… (Problem…) We’re not prepared to deal with the issues of life because many of us are unskilled… (V 13-14) “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil...”
The writer goes on to warn us not to remain spiritually anorexic… (6:1-6)
V1: Let us go on to perfection (maturity)…
V2-3: Repentance: Turning away from sin… Faith: Trusting God in all circumstances… Baptism: Identifies believer with Christ… Laying On Of Hands: Signifies being set apart by God… Resurrection: Identifies what Christ did for the believer… Eternal Judgment: When believers are united with God for eternity and unbelievers committed to eternal damnation… Only if God permits…
V4-6: It’s impossible once you have tasted… To fall away and start all over, lest you make Christ’s death a mockery… IOW, it’s time to stop living off of what you first learned at salvation, and it’s time to GROW UP in the things of God… How did I grow up…? How do I get to the place that I need to be…? How can I go on to perfection…? How can I walk in the maturity of Christ…?
I. BY STAYING PRAYED UP (Acts 12:1-11)
WORSHIP: Worship comes from the Greek word, proskuneo… It is a compound word with two meanings put together. Pros: towards and Kuneo: to kiss… Worship means to kiss towards… there are two components of worship…
(1)Praise:(Story of Chuckie, our dog… How a dog reacts to his master) When Chuckie comes in my presence… That’s praise…! He gives praise because he’s in the presence of his master,who will care for him… He gets on his hind legs… What I’m trying to say is that dogs know how to praise their master, but we don’t know how to praise the Creator…! It’s a tragedy that we think that we are too cute… Too macho… Too sanctified and saditified to praise Him…! I come to let you know that real men will praise Him… Real men will stand on hind legs…! When you think about His Goodness and all He’s done for you… You can’t help but to praise Him…! The second component of worship is…
(2) Falling Prostrate: After Chuckie would praise me… He’d do this unique little maneuver… He would come over to my chair… Lay his front paws way out… Stretch his hind legs way back… And lay flat on his stomach…! (You missed it…!) Once you praise Him and recognize His awesomeness… (The act of worship…!)
You can’t help but to fall prostrate before Him and worship…! We must understand what it means to lay before the Lord in worship… (Difference between praise and worship…)
Praise: Gets us in the Presence of God… (His Attention)
Worship (Falling Prostate): What we do when we get there…! Prayer is worship... But also, prayer is:
WORK: The word “work” comes from the Greek word, Ergon… It means to toil, or to labor… And I’ve found that most folk don’t want to work when it comes to prayer… Most folk put one foot on the floor and one foot in the bed (Now I lay me down…) and start to dose off before they get to the “Amen…”
Then they use the excuse and say, “God knows my heart…” But the text says, “But prayer was made without ceasing…” The NKJV says, “Constant/ (Continuous)prayer…” That word “continuous,” comes from the Greek word ektenes (ek-ten-ace’)… It denotes the stretching out of ones muscles to the limit… It also gives implication and connotation of a runner running in a race… And as he heads to the goal, he stretches (ektenes) or struggles to reach the finish line…
I’m probably going to get in trouble here, but prayer is not hooping… That’s rapping and rhyming… There’s nothing wrong with it… But it’s not prayer…! That’s gravy, not meat…Prayer is what comes out of the sincere depths of the heart…! Prayer is work…! When Jesus us in the Garden of Gethsemane and He prayed until His sweat was like great drops of blood falling… That’s prayer…! What I’m trying to say is you ought to feel like you had a workout after you finish praying…! Prayer is worship… Prayer is work… But likewise, Prayer is:
WARFARE: Warfare is derived from the word strateia (stra-t-ay) in the Greek… It’s where we get the word strategy… And in light of this text, I have come to the realization that as believers, we still have work to do when it comes to warfare… Yes, we are on the “Battlefield, fighting for the Lord…”
But we’re fighting the wrong war…! We’re fighting personalities… We’re fighting stress… We’re fighting each other…!
But Paul says, “The weapons of warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of God, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled... (2 Cor. 10:4-6)” You’ve got to understand that it’s a Spiritual thing… And if you’re going to do warfare against the devil, you’ve got to have a strategy…!
Look at the text, “But prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him…” (For who…?) For Peter…! What I’m trying to say is that when the church comes together in corporate prayer, there must be a plan… There must be a strategy… A goal… A purpose… We ought not just come together praying hap-hazzardly… If you’ve got 20 people praying, 5 pray for lost men, 5 pray for body of Christ, 5 pray for deliverance, 5 pray for souls saved… We must have a strategy…! Prayer is Worship… Work… Warfare… But most of all prayer…
WORKS: Of all the things that can be said about prayer… One thing I know for sure is that… Prayer Works…! And because prayer does work, you’ve got to be careful about what you ask God for… I’ve learned that you’ve got to make sure that you be specific when you go to God in prayer… You’ve got to be specific when you ask God for a financial blessing…
If you’re not specific, you can ask God for a financial blessing and walk right outside and find a penny on the ground (but the problem is… You need more than a penny…!)
I come to tell you that you better be specific when you ask God to move in that domestic situation in your life… You pray to God and ask Him to “move the problem…” But you might be the problem…! (Gotta move on…) If you’re going to Grow Up in the things of God, you’ve got to start off BY STAYING PRAYED UP… But you also Grow Up…
II. BY STAYING PUMPED UP (Ephesians 6:10-17)
(V 10-11) Be strong in the Lord..,. And in the power… You can’t do it on your own… Why? Because it’s not a flesh fight (v 12)… That’s why you’ve got to put on the whole armor… That you may be able to stand… (V 14-17) Stand therefore… (because) you got:
1. Truth around your waist: (Holds you up when lies abound…)
2. Breastplate of Righteousness: (Protects your heart…)
3. Gospel Of Peace on your feet: (Makes you ready to spread the Gospel to others…)
4. Shield Of Faith: (To withstand the attacks of the enemy…)
5. Helmet OF Salvation: (Knowing in your mind who and whose you are…)
6. Sword of the Spirit: (The Word of God; your weapon against the enemy…)
By staying pumped up, you stay in shape foe the fight…
Playtime is over… It’s time to Grow Up in the things of God, you’ve got to start off BY STAYING PRAYED UP… BY STAYING PUMPED UP… And finally…
III. BY STAYING PRAISED UP (Psalms 34:1-8)
(Background of the text…) You’ve got to understand vs 4-7 are the cause for vs 1-3… (Trying to say…) You ought to thank God for your trials because trials produce growth… Paul says that we are to, “glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us… (Romans 5:3-5)” James said, “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing… (James 1:2-4)”
Just look at what David went through… (V 4-7)
But he shows a sign of maturity, when in spite of all that he went through, he says… (V 1-3, 8)
(Trying to tell you…) When you really grow up in God;
You’ll appreciate the growing pain that you went through… You’ll appreciate the rough nights that you had to endure… You’ll appreciate the lonely hours you had to face…
It’s time to grow up and put away
Childish things…
Childish thoughts…
Childish tendencies…
If you want to GROW UP and move to the Next Dimension, you need to:
STAY PRAYED UP… Because the prayers of the righteous…
STAY PUMPED UP… Because the race is not given…
STAY PRAISED UP… Because when praises go up…
