MILK, MEAT, AND MATURITY

The writer of Hebrews in chapter five, verses 12-14, chides the congregation for their lack of spiritual growth. The foundational principles ought to have been learned and built upon. When they should have been focused on growing, they were still fixated on grounding. The preacher must consider his audience and feed them appropriately.

Babes need MILK, “you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe,” (v. 12b-13). They would choke on meat. We should always have some infants in the audience. That means the church is engaged in evangelism and new spiritual babes are being birthed into the family of God. The preachers and teachers must consider them and nurture them. Only as they are given milk will they have healthy growth.

Adults need MEAT, “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,” (v. 14). If the preachers and teachers only offer milk and do not give meat when the believers need it, then their growth will be stunted and they may well seek another local church where meat is offered. There ought always be grown-ups in the congregation, for this means the church is dedicated to discipleship. Solid, substantial Scriptural truths are given to them to chew on as growth is sustained.

Soul nourishment brings MATURITY. Babies are precious, but if they never develop then there is a problem. As that is contrary to the normal physical pattern, it is likewise in the spiritual realm. 

This is evidenced by duplication, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers,” (v. 12a). Children have matured biologically when they can reproduce. They not only have the capacity to do so, but the competency for doing so. Maturing disciples multiply disciples. The taught become teachers. 

It is also manifested in discernment, “that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil,” (v. 14). The immature are easily led astray. Children are naive and gullible. You have to keep poisons locked away from them or they will consume them. The church may have those prone to drink toxins as if it were truth. Cult members target such. Adults have learned to weigh what is presented to them. There is discernment that detects what is good and they swallow it, but the evil doesn’t pass, “the smell test.” They sniff it, and usually turn from it, but if they taste it they spit it out!

The healthy church family is one where new babies are being birthed and given milk to mature them, and where maturing saints are discipled as they are given meat to multiply them. The church’s preachers and teachers must be mature and model this if they are thus to lead the congregation.

EXPOSITION AND EXHORTATION

As the Word of God is expounded, the people of God are exhorted to stay true to God. The Lord is the only One who can save us and secure us. It is His grace that does so. Yet, He has chosen to use human means as the channel for providing heaven’s might. God uses the power of His Word as it is proclaimed as the seed of salvation that sown in the heart inspires saving faith in those who receive it.  Paul states this in Romans 10:14-17:

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” 

Further, the expounded Word is the means whereby God continues to channel sustaining grace into the hearts of believers. By that grace, we endure to the end. So, Hebrews stresses THE ESSENTIALITY OF EXHORTATION. We are called to exhort each other to endure. Those who remain true show true faith. While we are saved by faith alone, saving faith is never alone. Our works are not the root of salvation, but they are the fruit of it. There were Hebrews who had professed faith in Christ as the Messiah, yet a number of them when faced with pressure and persecution were going back to Judaism. By their apostasy they were revealing that while making profession of faith, there was no possession of faith. Abiding with the family of God gives us opportunity to reinforce our faith in God. We need it with regularity. As our body needs to be fed, so does our soul require daily bread. Christ overcame Satan by wielding the Sword of Scripture. In temptation, He responded, “But He answered and said, ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”’” (Matt. 4‬:‭4‬‬). 

The essentiality of exhortation is due to THE EFFICACY OF EXHORTATION. Perhaps you have heard the term,”Once saved, always saved.”  It is true, if understood as meaning, “IF saved, always saved.”  Where there is regeneration, power is provided to persevere.  Sadly, there are those who had an emotional or intellectual response to the Gospel who never had a volitional commitment to it . When the feelings faded, so did their “faith.”  Or when they seemed to embrace the facts of the Gospel in their mind, it never migrated to their heart. Well, the demons have that kind of belief—absolutely convinced in who Christ is and that He will one day cast them into hell. Yet such “belief” does not convert them, as they remain in their rebellion against God. Saving faith is when we receive Christ as Savior and Lord. We surrender our life to Him—once and for all. The reality of it is seen in that we press on and do not fall away.  In this hostile environment where we walk under the onslaught of the Devil, we need the exhortation that comes from the exposition of the Word to stand tall and stay true. 

That is what I am doing in expounding this Word—exhorting you. It is what I do when we gather as God’s people for worship as we exhort one another by “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”(Eph. 5‬:‭19‬-‭21‬‬). 

Please hear this today and do not harden your heart!

A DIVISIVE DEMEANOR AND DOCTRINAL DEPARTURE

Hatefulness and heresy are partners in crime. The one who deviates from the faith will also potentially divide the flock. Both are deadly viruses that can infect a church until it becomes sick, or even dies! 

These make mountains out of molehills while failing to embrace the fundamentals of the faith. Instead, they take a text out of context and use it as a pretext for some theological novelty they want others to embrace. Such preach that they have received some new insight—often in a “dream,” or “vision.”  What they do is package error as enlightenment. 

Paul brands such arguments as unprofitable and useless and tells us to avoid these erroneous teachings and the evil teachers themselves —unless they repent when confronted. 

To platform such and have prolonged discussions is to elevate the doctrinal deviant to the same status as the true teachers. Immersing your mind in the study of heresy is to contaminate your own thinking. You cannot walk through a coal mine without inhaling some black dust. Do you want to drink just an ounce of chicken manure stirred in your coffee?  

For a period of time, I had a section of books in my library as examples of false teaching, but I have since thrown them away. I never read them, but what if someone saw them, and it piqued their curiosity?  Or after I died, what if someone got hold of them and wondered if I subscribed to those errors as those books were found in my library?  They went where such teaching belongs—in the trash!

At best, the study of false teaching and striving with false teachers is a waste of precious time better spent immersing oneself in the study and of Scripture and proclamation of it. A bank teller can detect counterfeit money, but not because they spend hour after hour studying counterfeiters and their craft. Rather, they handle real currency continually and thus when a forgery comes their way, they spot it right away.

Study the Scriptures. Listen to and learn from faithful men. “New” truth is likely ancient error repackaged.  Don’t waste time sorting through garbage. Toss it and turn to the Truth.