Spiritual Maturity

Last week, we partook of some solid food as we examined apostasy, the falling away from God.

Today, I’d like us to unbox a few passages to reflect on our own spiritual maturity.

Hebrews 5:13–14 “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.”

-Ask others what their bible says-

I found it interesting that this Greek word for the English word “senses” is found in the NT here in Hebrews.

It means “internal sense” “faculty of perception”

…those who by reason of use have their faulty of perception exercised to discern both good and evil.

in v.11 The author of Hebrews calls his audience, who are mostly Jewish, lazy and hanging onto the old doctrine and not embracing the new covenant.

Hebrews 5:11 “of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.” NKJV

CSB-”We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.”

You ever speak to someone who, when you attempt to explain something to them, give you the impression that it is too much effort to try to understand?

Here’s the controversial question/statement for the week:

Could CPC be among the dead churches?

Have we become dull of hearing?

We are only able to grow in spiritual maturity through knowledge and practice of scripture.

Hebrews 5:12 “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.”

Today, let’s look at 3 amazing facts about Spiritual Growth:

Spiritual growth must be intentional

Spiritual growth requires us to get uncomfortable

Spiritual growth involves sacrifice

Let’s go to Hebrews 6:1-8 read from my bible

Please stand with me as we honor God while reading His word.

Hebrews 6:1–3 “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.”

Here the author is saying very much the same thing that we read in Hebrews 5:12 “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.”

The heading on Hebrews 6 is “The Peril of Not Progressing.

In chapter 5 he points out they are not where they should be in Spiritual Maturity.

In chapter 6 he goes on to explain the dangers of spiritual immaturity.

Last week we looked at Hebrews 6:4–6 so we’ll not cover that again.

Hebrews 6:7–8 “For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.”

It is interesting that these two verses follow similar instruction in Matthew 13:8 “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

The whole of that parable illustrates how 4 of the 5 seeds did not produce fruit, but one did!

Are we using the knowledge of God’s word to produce fruit in our lives, our families lives, and those we encounter?

In thinking about spiritual growth, I thought about how sometimes we pray that we leave here today, different that when we came.

Not that kind of change that when we walk out of here people don’t recognize us or know who we are, although that can happen.

But rather leaving here:

with a softened heart

Or maybe that we need to forgive someone

or grieving over a past or present sin, realizing we need to repent and surrender to God

We must be INTENTIONAL is our spiritual growth.

Spiritual growth requires us to get uncomfortable.

Let’s look at one other passage:

2 Peter 1:5–9 “But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”