Are You Ready for Solid Food?

Would you turn with me to Hebrews chapter 5, verse 11.

Hebrews 5:11

We are starting up our series, or restarting up our series in the book of Hebrews.

If you were with us last semester, you know that we worked through basically

almost the full first five chapters of the book of Hebrews.

And what we saw there is that the writer of the book of Hebrews was laying a foundation

of Jesus Christ as a supreme, unique, majestic Son of God

who had come down to be our high priest.

And that's where we ended last semester with this thought ringing in our ears

that Jesus has come to be our high priest.

And today we're going to pick up right where we left off in Hebrews chapter 5, verse 11.

Hebrews 5:11

It's page 1003 in your pew Bible if you want to turn there.

Let me read this for us.

We're going to read through chapter 6, verse 3.

Having just talked about Christ as our high priest, he says,

About this, we have much to say.

And it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers,

you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.

You need milk, not solid food.

For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child.

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity,

not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

And this we will do if God permits.

If you're a fan of TV sitcoms, you might remember last spring as the time when the offbeat, mockumentary Arrested Development returned for a fourth season.

Anybody here an Arrested Development fan?

Uh-oh, true confessions, we're in church.

Put your hands down.

No, I'm kidding.

It was actually, well, I probably shouldn't say this.

It was actually an elder of Trinity at the time that let me borrow all three seasons of Arrested Development on DVD.

A great sign of our need of congregational sanctification.

Anyway, after being canceled seven years earlier by Fox, in May of last year, Netflix released the newly filmed fourth season all at once for online streaming.

And if you missed it, the show follows the dysfunctional Bluth family and their attempts to save the family business from bankruptcy and all sorts of legal trouble.

And as the title of the show suggests, nearly all of the adult characters in one way or another have failed to grow up.

There's Job, one of the brothers, who instead of helping to run the family business, rides a Segway and tries to make it as a magician.

Or an illusionist, as he's so apt to point out.

And then there's socially awkward Buster, another brother who pursues various scholarly pursuits like African drumming and anthropology while still living at home with his overbearing mom.

And then there's George Sr., the sort of paterfamilias who ends up in prison because he's suspected of fraud and thinks it's a good idea to hide large amounts of cash in the walls of the family's banana stand down on the pier.

Creating the unforgettable line, there's always money in the banana stand.

And what's fascinating is that the show actually grew in popularity over the seven years after it was canceled.

And of course, the show is incredibly funny if you like stupid humor and the mockumentary style was perhaps a bit ahead of its time.

But I think that the very idea of a family unable to grow up, being stuck in perpetual arrested development, I think has somehow resonated with our culture more and more.

There was something about the silly Bluth family that just maybe struck a chord closer and closer to home.

After all, for more than a decade, sociologists have been increasingly aware of a phenomenon that they're calling and have called emerging adulthood, right?

No longer are young adults moving smoothly from adolescence into traditional adulthood.

Things like getting married or having children or settling into a profession or owning a home.

All of these traditional cultural markers that made someone an adult are all being postponed.

Now someone in their mid to late 20s is just as likely to be single, living at home, struggling to find their life's purpose, having a hard time nailing down a job,

and most likely in their free time, streaming season four of Arrested Development on their parents' Netflix account.

Now I'm not going to say that the phenomenon of emerging adulthood is good or bad.

In some sense it just is.

But there does come a point when we realize that we can't remain children forever.

That we have to go on to maturity.

That at some point, it's time to grow up.

Now our text this morning from Hebrews is a challenge, a challenge spiritually to do just that.

The main point is right there in chapter 6, verse 1.

Let us go on to maturity.

This passage is telling us that it's possible for us as Christians to get stuck in a sort of spiritual Arrested Development.

To remain as children, as it were, and to never grow up.

But like a good pastor or teacher, like a good spiritual parent, Hebrews is here challenging us, chiding us to grow up and to go on to maturity.

As we said, he's getting ready to embark on one of the richest in-depth discussions of the high priesthood of Christ.

That will be for their eternal good and for their endurance and for their growth.

And yet he's afraid that they're not going to get it.

Now there are three points we need to see here in our text about this call to maturity.

And here's the outline of what I want us to do this morning.

First, we see what kind of maturity we ought to be seeking.

Second, why we should be seeking it.

And last, how we go after it.

So what kind of maturity?

Why we should be going after it?

And then lastly, how do we do it?

So first then, what kind of maturity are we talking about here?

What exactly are we to grow up in?

And the nanotext is actually pretty specific.

It's not just a general kind of spiritual maturity he's talking about.

And you see this in verse 11.

You see that he wants to explain something to them, but he's afraid they won't understand it because they become dull of hearing or sluggish.

In other words, he's afraid their minds aren't sharp and ready to understand what he's going to explain.

So that means what we're talking about here is growing up in our knowledge, grasping something with our minds.

And then he goes on to tell us what kind of knowledge.

And he uses a couple of phrases to describe it.

And in each case, he's saying this is something where you're only at the elementary level, but you need to go on.

And what is it?

In verse 12, how does he describe it?

The oracles of God.

Now, an oracle is just something that's spoken.

This is a common way of referring to the scriptures.

He says you're at a basic level, but you need to become more advanced.

And then in verse 13, he calls it the word of righteousness.

That is the message about God's transforming, saving justice.

You're unskilled, he says, but you need to become more and more proficient.

And then in 6.1, he calls it the doctrine of Christ, the teaching about Christ.

You're just elementary, he says, but you need to go on to maturity.

So how do we sum this up?

I think like this.

This passage is telling us that every Christian ought to make it their business to diligently study the things of God.

To be ever increasing in their knowledge of the Christian faith.

To be making it our diligent business to be growing in the knowledge of the things of God.

Or you might call it our knowledge of Christian theology.

Theology just means the study of God.

Or you might call it Christian doctrine.

Doctrine are things that are taught and things that are believed.

This is the kind of maturity that he wants us to pursue.

Maturity in our grasp, our knowledge of Christian faith, doctrine, theology.

Now clarify.

This knowledge that we're being challenged to pursue here isn't something that's disconnected from the central gospel message.

It's not as if he's saying that, oh, the gospel is sort of the mere ABC.

And then you sort of leave it behind and move on to something else when you want to get really mature.

You know, you'll start, I don't know, going into all weird sort of esoteric stuff.

No.

You know, when he says in verse 6-1, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ.

He doesn't mean leave it behind for something else altogether.

But to go deeper into it.

It's more like a math teacher telling their class, okay, let's leave algebra 1 and go on to algebra 2.

And of course, when you get to algebra 2, you're not forgetting all the stuff you learned in algebra 1.

But you're expanding it.

You're going deeper.

You're unpacking its implications.

You're seeing more and more and more of what the subject has to hold.

And that's what a diligent study of the things of God of Christian doctrine is meant to do.

It's meant to take you deeper and deeper into what you've come to know in the gospel.

Now consider the gospel, the central message of Christianity of the Bible.

Let's just consider it for a second.

That there is one true and living God who is holy, just, and good.

And that this God created everything to display his beauty and grace and perfections.

And that he made you and I, human beings, in his image to especially know him and enjoy him and glorify him.

But we've rebelled against our good and just God and have gone our own way.

And because God is perfectly just and good, he condemns us to eternal death because of our sin.

And will one day come and judge righteously all the earth.

But in his great mercy and in his great grace and with the great love with which he loved us,

God sent his son, Jesus Christ, who is fully God from all eternity.

And he came and became fully human in the incarnation.

And on the cross, he died in the place of sinners as their substitute, taking the penalty they deserve.

And on the third day, God raised him from the dead to prove that the full payment for sin had been paid.

And that everyone who turns from their sin and trusts in him, who takes him by faith as their Lord and Savior,

will have their sins forgiven and be brought into the family of God

and be made a part of God's new creation work in the world.

Friends, that is the gospel.

And when the writer of the book of Hebrews is telling us to go on in maturity in our Christian knowledge,

how could he possibly be telling us to leave that behind?

There wasn't a sentence of that that was scratching the surface of the depths of its riches.

Thomas Goodwin, the 17th century pastor and theologian, once said,

The things of the gospel are depths.

The things of the gospel are the deep things of God.

Too often we're like the Hebrews.

We fail to sharpen our minds so that we can plumb the depths of this great good news.

We fail to see that what we have as Christians in the gospel is like an ever-radiant jewel

that as you turn it and turn it and turn it,

more and more brilliance and light and wonders come as the light shines in.

Or to use the metaphor in the second half of 6.1,

it's like the foundation of a building.

And when you're ready to build the first and second stories of a building,

you don't just sort of leave the foundation behind,

laying in the field, and then build somewhere else.

No!

You take your start from that foundation.

You follow its lines up.

And friends, the gospel is solid and secure and deep enough

to propel us to the heights of God.

Real Christian maturity.

Real growth and understanding in Christian doctrine

will always be following those foundation lines

of gazing into the jewel of the great work of redemption

that God has wrought in Christ.

Paul says in Corinthians 2.2, he says,

he endeavored to know nothing among them

except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

And that's because Christ crucified, the heart of the gospel,

is the wisdom of God and the power of God

and the glory of God.

And Peter says that the things of the gospel

are things into which even angels long and desire to look.

And John in Revelation tells us that at the center of the new heavens

and the new earth, that in the middle of heaven's praise,

where there is ceaseless delight and joy,

stands the Lamb, Jesus Christ crucified and risen.

You see, friends, Thomas Goodwin was right.

The things of the gospel are the deep things of God.

And it is the duty of all of us to apply our minds to know it more and more and deeper and deeper.

So before we move on, let's hear the challenge of Hebrews this morning.

Ask yourself, am I making it my business to diligently study the things of God?

Am I making efforts to grow in my knowledge of Christian truth?

Or if I'm honest, am I unskilled?

Have I not progressed beyond the basic principles?

Have I even become dull of hearing?

When I think about how I invest my time,

does any of my concentrated effort go toward growing in my Christian knowledge?

Or am I still, as it were, sort of skiing down the bunny slope

and taking the T-bar to the top?

When, friends, what God is calling us to

is to get into the gondola

and go to the top

where there's fresh powder

and views like you could never imagine.

How could we be content

with just staying on the bunny slope

when that's before us?

Let's go on to maturity.

Let's make it our business

to diligently study the things of God.

Every one of us.

You'll notice here that he's not just talking to the teachers

and the pastors in the midst of the congregation.

He's talking to all of them,

young and old, male and female,

those who have formal education and those who don't.

It's addressed to the whole church.

Now let's ask the question, why?

Why should this be our diligent pursuit?

Well, I think the text points us to three reasons

why we ought to be doing this.

First, it's our nature.

He says in verse 12,

by this time, you ought to be teachers.

By this time,

you ought to have grown up.

You see, he's pointing us to the fact

that it's a natural trajectory in the Christian life

that as time passes,

our knowledge should be increasing

and increasing such

that we could even eventually instruct others.

You see, when the Holy Spirit

does a work of conversion in us,

when we come to faith in Christ,

a whole new principle gets planted within us.

A principle that is a desire within us

to want to grow and learn

and feast on God's word.

You see this in the early church in Acts.

The earliest disciples,

what were they doing

when Peter preaches that first message

and then Luke turns

and starts describing the church?

What's the first thing he says?

He says they devoted themselves

to the apostles' teaching.

It was just part of their nature

as disciples.

And after all, the word disciple,

what does it mean?

A student, a learner.

To be a Christian by nature,

by the nature that the Holy Spirit puts in us,

means that we are to seek deeper knowledge

of the things of God,

to learn and to grow.

Isn't that true of the other callings

that we have in our lives?

If your profession is to be a doctor,

don't you want to naturally excel

in the knowledge of medicine

and the human body?

You're always learning.

Or if you're in business,

you want to keep learning

whatever field that you're in,

whatever aspect of the commercial world

that you're in,

you keep learning and growing and studying.

If your profession is to be an auto mechanic,

you keep learning and growing

and studying how cars work.

If your profession is to be a stay-at-home parent,

then you're wanting to excel

in the knowledge of raising kids

and in child development

and all those great things.

It's just in the nature

of our everyday callings

that we seek to know more and more about it.

How much more ought that to be the case

with our calling to follow Christ?

Friends, this is the greatest calling

that any human being could have.

To be a child of God.

To be an ambassador of the King.

That's the privilege of every believer.

And that means it's the privilege

of each and every one of us

and the natural impulse in us

to want to grow in our knowledge

of the things of God.

It's not just for pastors.

It's not just for elders.

It's for all of us.

If you're a Christian

and you're not going after

an increase in this kind of knowledge,

then friends,

you're actually living out of line

with your nature.

And don't think this is just for people

with a high IQ.

Maybe some of you are sitting there thinking,

man, we're just talking about

head knowledge and book learning.

I mean, is this just for the smart people around?

No.

It's for all of us.

You see, friends,

God is faithful to his children.

He will grant you rich insights

into his word.

He promises to faithfully reward your study.

Wasn't it Jesus that taught us to ask

and it will be given to you

and to seek and you will find

and the knock and the door

will be open to you.

Of course, a sharp intellect

is a great gift of God

and a means that he can use

and something that we should steward well

if we find that God has given it to us.

But each and every Christian

has something even better

than a sharp intellect.

God's Holy Spirit within you.

The natural mind can't even

really grasp these things.

And yet, God pours his own self into you

so that you can know him.

It's God, the Holy Spirit,

who brought us to faith

and he'll work in us

to cause us to grow

in our knowledge of the faith.

And that is the deposit

that each and every one of us has.

So it's in our nature

as Christians

to pursue this kind of maturity.

That's why we should go after it.

But there's a second reason

that we see here.

The second reason

why we should go after

this kind of maturity

is actually,

I struggle to find a word for this,

but I'm going to say

it's our protection.

Now, here's what I mean by this.

In verse 14,

he says that this sort of maturity

is such that we come

to distinguish good from evil.

And that means two things.

On the one hand,

it means that an increasing knowledge

of Christian doctrine

helps us to live life well.

Christian theology was always meant

to be practical in its outflow.

Doctrine is meant for life.

You see this over and over again

in the pastoral epistles

in 1st and 2nd Timothy and Titus.

Paul speaks again and again

of sound doctrine.

And by that,

he doesn't just mean true doctrine.

He means the kind of doctrine

that brings soundness,

that brings health,

that brings rightness

to our lives.

It's actually kind of funny

that we don't see it this way.

We often see theology

as very impractical, don't we?

But imagine trying to set off

on an expedition

through a mountain range

without a map,

without any sort of GPS

or map to guide you.

Of course, you know

that would be incredibly foolish.

After all, what is a map?

It's a description

of what's real.

It's a way of helping us

to grasp and understand

what's before us

and to put it in perspective

so that we know how to proceed.

And because maps

are incredibly, you know,

descriptive of what's real,

that means they're practical

and they're useful.

Friends, don't you see

that if in Scripture

we have the description

of what's ultimately real,

and if Christian theology

is helping us

to understand this

better and better,

then surely it's one

of the most practical,

the most practical thing

we could ever learn.

Because it's not just a map

for this or that city

or this or that mountain range.

It's the very description

of existence and reality itself.

That's what Paul means

when he says that,

when he says in 2 Timothy 3.16

that all Scripture

is God-breathed and useful,

not just inspired,

but eminently practical

and useful.

Have you ever seen old maps

from like, you know,

the 13th, 14th century?

You know, they're kind of funny,

aren't they?

Because you can usually tell

that whatever perspective

they're drawn from, right?

You look at an old map

and you see sort of Western Europe

and it's all incredibly defined

and you think,

oh, that could, you know,

that could be any old map.

And then you sort of go over

and there's some white parts

and then there's this sort of blob.

You're like, oh,

that must be North America.

I don't know.

It looked like a turkey

or whatever, you know,

they've sort of drawn it as.

And of course,

now we have satellites

that can give us a perspective

like no one would have imagined

in the 1400s, you know?

It gives us the perspective

to know reality rightly.

And don't you see, friends,

that's why Scripture

is eminently useful.

Because if it's God's Word,

then its perspective

is not limited.

It doesn't have the confines

or the skewed perspective

of every other life map

that we try to use.

So you see,

the more and more we grow

in our knowledge

of Christian doctrine,

the more equipped we are

to live life well.

It's our protection

in that sense.

It keeps us from foolish living.

It keeps us from stumbling

into error.

And it allows us

to live life well.

But it's also our protection

in this sense.

A second sense.

Growing in the knowledge

of the things of God

also is a protection

to help us distinguish

good from evil

when it comes to

false gospels

and false teaching.

When something comes to you

masquerading

as true Christian belief,

when you hear a preacher

on TV or online,

or when you read something

on a blog or a magazine,

or when you talk to a friend

about something

they've been reading

or hearing,

friends, all of us

need to have our powers

of discernment sharp

to be able to distinguish

true gospels

from false gospels,

true biblical beliefs

from false ones.

And again,

you and I both know

this isn't just a job

of pastors, right?

In fact,

in your everyday life

out in the world,

you probably encountered

just as much weird

and wacky stuff

as I do.

We all need to be growing

in our discernment.

Otherwise,

Paul says in Ephesians,

we'll just be blown

and tossed

by every wind

of doctrine.

And you know,

what's very interesting

in the New Testament

is that it's not just

pastors,

although they are

especially held

accountable for this,

but it's not just pastors

that are held accountable

for the doctrinal purity

of the church.

It's the whole congregation.

Think about the book

of Galatians.

A false teaching

has crept into the church.

And who does Paul write to

in that letter?

Who does he issue

his challenges to?

Not just the teachers,

the whole congregation.

He says,

all of you

are responsible

to guard

the doctrinal purity

of your congregation.

All of you

have a share in this

to make sure

that we're staying

rooted and grounded

in what's life-giving

and true

and beautiful.

So you see,

an increasing knowledge

of Christian doctrine

then is our protection.

It doesn't just protect us

in our own personal lives

from foolishness

and disaster,

but it protects

the life of the church

and keeps it healthy.

Okay,

so why should we

pursue this maturity?

Because it's our nature,

because it's our protection.

But lastly then,

we should make it

our business

to increase

in this kind of knowledge.

Because frankly,

friends,

it's our joy.

You see that

in the metaphor

of milk

and solid food,

don't you?

He says,

children are just fit

for milk,

he says.

But,

solid food

is for the mature.

Now,

of course,

milk is a wonderful thing,

right?

It's refreshing,

it's got some protein

in there,

my kids love it,

I think they could probably

actually live on milk

if we let them.

But imagine,

imagine a friend

takes you downtown

to a nice restaurant.

Imagine your favorite restaurant,

whatever it is,

Heirloom,

Union League,

Barcelona,

whatever.

And you sit down

and your friend says,

hey,

let me treat tonight,

order anything on the menu.

And you look at the menu

and the waiter comes

and you say,

you know what,

I think I'll just have

a glass of milk,

thanks.

How absurd.

Just imagine

what you're missing out on.

You see, friends,

God in the gospel

is inviting us

to a feast,

to solid food

that will satisfy you

and delight you

the way only

real solid food can.

God wants us

to grow up,

as it were,

so we can start

digging in,

so we can taste

and see

that the Lord

is good.

How many of us

are trying to find

soul satisfaction

in so many other things?

Trying to find

our heart's delight

in work

or in relationships

or in human approval?

And of course,

we know that

when we start sinking

into those things,

it never works

and nothing tastes.

And then how often

do we come

to God's table,

to God who is

the fountain of delights

and we're just

content with milk

when he could

serve up for us

the very thing

that would feed

and satisfy

our souls.

God has given you

a mind at all

is so that you

can know him,

so that you

can behold him

and know him

and love him

and be awestruck

at the wonder

of who he is.

just like our mouths

are made

to eventually

grow up

and eat solid food,

our minds

were given to us

so that we might

grow up

and start enjoying

the knowledge

of God.

And you know,

sometimes we think

as if our increase

in the knowledge

of Christian doctrine

and theology

will somehow

sort of

hinder our ability

to enjoy God.

Don't we sometimes think

that, ah, if I get caught up

in those dusty books,

if I just spend

all my time thinking,

my heart gets sort of

taken away, right?

I mean, am I the only one

who sort of

has heard that?

No.

It's so boring.

It will just kill

my relationship.

But friends,

don't you see how silly

that is when you step back

and think about it?

The way that God

has constituted us

as humans

is that yes,

there is head knowledge

and there is heart knowledge.

There's speculative knowledge.

There's intellect

and there is experiential knowledge

and knowing something

in the depth of your bones

and tasting it.

Of course.

But the way God

has made us

is that the pathway

to the heart

is through our heads.

The things that we know

are then the things

that we can really enjoy.

It's like building a fire,

isn't it?

You see,

growing in our knowledge

of the faith

is like stacking wood

for a bonfire.

fire,

and once the Holy Spirit

lights the flame,

then we'll be glad

that we learned

as much as we possibly could.

And we'll want to keep

throwing logs

onto the fire

as it gets brighter

and brighter

and hotter

and hotter.

as we stand

and wonder

of God's perfections,

of His work

on the cross,

of the things

that He's doing

in us

and through us

by His Spirit.

How often do we think

our relationship

with God

has grown cold

when in reality

we haven't been

putting any fuel

into the furnace?

No, friends,

we should delight

in learning

more and more

about God,

not so our heads

can be puffed up,

but so that our hearts

can burn brighter

and truer

with love for Him.

You see, friends,

you pursue

this kind of maturity,

this increasing knowledge

of the faith,

and it's ultimately

for your joy

in God.

So let's wrap up then.

We've seen what,

we've seen why,

let's end with how.

How do we pursue

this kind of maturity?

How do we grow up

in this way?

And three basic things,

three sort of headings.

The first is

the diligent study

of God's Word.

This is evident

from the passage,

isn't it?

The very thing

He's rebuking them for

is that they're still

mere babes

in their understanding

of God's Word

and the Gospel.

So if we're going

to remedy this,

we have to do it

to devote ourselves

to diligent study

of the Word.

And for starters,

that means taking advantage

of any opportunity

where the Word of God

is being opened

and taught rightly.

You're obviously here

for our 10 o'clock service.

This is a good place

to start.

You're here,

but think about it.

How can you make

even better use

of this time?

Let me suggest

two very simple things.

One,

take the sermon card

in the pew home with you.

We just printed them

out this week.

They're fresh

off the presses.

Take it home with you.

Read the upcoming

sermon text

at least once

in the week

before the service.

And start asking yourself

as you read the passage

that's coming up,

what does it reveal

about God?

What does it reveal

God has,

what God has done

for us in Christ?

And what would it mean

to live in response

to those things?

And then,

during the service,

or right after

our services,

mark down

one or two things

that God is teaching you.

Maybe it's a truth

about Him

that's become

especially real

to your heart.

Maybe it's a question

you have,

a line for further inquiry.

Maybe it's an action

you need to take.

Maybe it's a sin

you need to confess

to God

and to someone

that you've wronged.

I guarantee you

that you will get

more out of these services

by doing those

two simple things.

It will only take you

not a lot of time.

But of course,

if you start doing that,

why stop with

the 10 o'clock service,

right?

Why not come

at 9 o'clock

to Sunday school?

I mean,

think about it.

We got a new class

starting up next week.

It's about walking

in the Spirit.

I mean,

how many of you

think you're proficient

and experts

at walking in the Spirit?

None of us.

Come and learn

about this most

central topic.

It's vital to your life.

I mean,

most of us

have to be at work

earlier than 9 a.m.,

right?

How many of you

have to be in the office

before 9 a.m.?

Okay,

you all have

awesome offices.

I'm going to go work

where you work.

It's nice.

Man,

what a lazy culture.

No,

and not only

does it start

at 9 o'clock,

there's child care

next door

for all ages.

I mean,

if you've got little kids,

that's practically

a date,

right?

It's like a TED Talk

for your soul.

Show up at 9.

And of course,

once you fill up

on Sunday mornings,

here's a crazy thought.

why not come back

on Sunday nights

when we dig

into another

passage of Scripture?

There's even a Q&A time

after the sermon

on Sunday nights

so you can try

to stump the preacher.

Come on,

come.

We can sharpen

one another

and keep our edge

as we engage

the Word of God.

You see,

the place to start,

too often we jump

straight to,

you know,

do your quiet time.

But you know,

the place to start

is to start availing

yourself of the opportunities

when God's Word

is being opened

and being taught

so you can come

and be prepared to come.

But of course,

second,

once we're availing

ourselves of those

opportunities,

start reading the Word

on your own.

I know many of you

are doing this

and it's so encouraging

to me when I meet

with many of you

and you're telling me

about how you're reading

the Word on your own.

Keep up the good work,

brothers and sisters.

But if you haven't

started this,

start

there are plenty

of reading plans

out there

if you need structure

or you can just start

by reading the New Testament.

It's not rocket science.

Just get in

and start reading.

But of course,

where we do need

some guidance sometimes

is that we shouldn't

just be reading it

but we should be

taking it in.

We need to be making

observations

about what we read,

making connections,

asking questions,

sharpening our minds

for the task.

When we read,

we ought to be asking

things like,

what's the flow

of thought here?

What ideas or words

are repeated?

What's the main theme?

What's the main idea

of this section?

How does it fit

in the context of the book?

How does it fit

in the context

of the whole Bible?

What's unfamiliar?

What don't I understand?

What's confusing?

And then, friends,

once you get an insight,

once you get a question answered,

mark it down

and meditate

on what you've read.

I remember reading

an old Puritan

on that practice

of biblical meditation

and he used

this awesome illustration.

I couldn't forget it

because it was so graphic.

Living in agricultural culture,

right?

He said,

you know,

when you get the manure

for your fields,

you've got to spread it around.

And he says,

it's the same way

with reading the word.

When you get something,

you've got to spread it around.

I know it's a little graphic.

We live in a city.

We don't like manure.

But that's it, friends.

You need to take it in

and you need to start

spreading it around,

thinking on it,

mulling it over,

going deep with it.

And then remember

that maturity means

the ability to distinguish

good from evil.

Theology is meant

to flow into practice.

Start asking yourselves questions.

This is probably

one of the most important questions

you can ask

as you're reading the Bible.

Why is God showing me this today?

Why do I need to hear this right now?

Is there a command I need to obey?

Is there an example

I need to follow?

Is there a warning

that I need to heed?

A promise I need to take heart?

A truth about God

that I've just seemed to forgot

that I need to remember?

And again, write it down.

Begin logging the things

that God is teaching you.

And you know,

while we're thinking about

diligently studying God's Word,

let me recommend to you

reading good Christian books.

This is another way

of engaging God's Word.

If you want a recommendation,

that's why we've got

the bookstall downstairs.

Or talk to one of the pastors.

Or talk to your small group leader.

Ask them for a good book

that will help you grow

in your knowledge

of the things of God.

If you want just one

quick recommendation,

let me recommend to all of you,

J.I. Packer's Knowing God.

If you haven't read that book,

or if it's been a while

since you've read it,

get a copy and read it

and mark it up

and find a friend

to read it with.

You will be blessed by it.

The point in reading

good Christian books

is to learn from brothers

and sisters who are

further along than we are,

who can help us see things

in the Word that we might not

see for ourselves.

And of course, I know,

I know,

finding the time

is always the great hurdle

in reading Scripture

for ourselves

and digging into

good Christian literature.

But you know,

I'm sure,

I kind of did a little

experiment this week

as I was getting ready

for this sermon.

I'm sure that if each of us

looked through our day,

we could probably identify

15 to 20 minutes

that we could start redirecting

towards these kind of practices.

Just think of how easy it is

to spend 15 or 20 minutes

playing Candy Crush

on your iPhone

or Clash of Clans.

Any Clash of Clanners

out there?

Nope.

Okay, I'm the only one.

All right.

I mean, it's easy, right?

You're waiting for the bus.

You know,

you just come home from work.

You're on your coffee break.

Whatever.

Why not get a good book to read?

Why not get the Bible

on your device?

Greg talked about that last week.

Of course, it's not wrong

to play a game on your phone.

It's not wrong to do

a little bit of diversion

now and then.

But friends,

the reality is

growth in this kind of maturity

is going to take some effort.

In fact, in verse 14,

did you notice how he describes it

in verse 14?

Training by constant practice.

It's an athletic imagery.

It's going to take some sweat

and hard work

to get into a new routine.

It's going to feel difficult

at times.

Just like training

for an athletic event.

At times,

you're going to want to stop

and just do something else.

But just like athletes,

you need to keep your eyes

on the fact

that it's worth it.

The joy of knowing God

is before you, friends.

Of sitting down at his table

and feasting on solid food.

The joy of looking to Jesus

and running the race

with endurance.

Friends,

this is the path

of eternal satisfaction.

And just like a good workout

makes us feel more alive.

Don't you feel better

after you've been

on the stupid treadmill

for 20 minutes?

So hard spent time

in the Word

will make us feel more alive

to God.

I guarantee it.

So how do we get

this kind of maturity?

We devote ourselves

to studying the Word.

I said there's three things.

The last two are going to be quick.

Second,

we have to study the Word

in community.

Notice how the author says,

let us go to maturity.

And this we will do

if God permits.

Our growth is a community project.

And that's why

it is important

if at all possible

to be gathering together

in smaller groups

that you can meet with

to regularly discuss

the things of God.

Maybe it's a midweek small group

like you can find

on the back of the bulletin.

Maybe it's a standing date

that you have

with a few Christian friends

where you're committed

to talking about the Word.

Whatever it is,

you won't grow in maturity

without it.

It's like a rowing team, right?

You put one guy out there

in one of those boats

and he's only going to be able

to row so fast.

But you get a whole team

in one of those long, thin boats

and you get them in unison

and they're gliding

across the water.

It's the same

in our life together with God.

We need to get into a boat together

and it takes a little work

to get into unison.

I get it.

But once you hit a stride,

oh friends,

the deeper and deeper you'll go.

But second,

we also need to put

what we're learning to use.

By this time,

you ought to be teachers,

he says.

Are you seeking ways

to share what you're learning

with others?

Every educational theorist

will tell you

that one of the best ways

to learn

is by having to teach it

to other people.

And you especially learn best,

I found,

when you have to teach it

to other people

who aren't necessarily like you,

who are at a different age

or from a different walk of life.

Friends,

I can assure you

that if you jump in

to the children's church rotation

or the youth ministry

Sunday school rotation,

even once a month,

God will use it

to grow you in maturity

in your knowledge

of Christian doctrine.

It's easy to make

simple things complex,

but take the complex

and deep things of God

and make them simple

and you will grow like fire.

But even if you don't

get involved there,

are you looking for ways

to be building

into other Christians,

to be doing good

to them spiritually?

Is there even just

one person right now

that you could be

intentionally taking the time

to meet with,

to talk about spiritual things?

It doesn't have to be forced.

You can talk about

other stuff too.

That's okay.

But be intentional

about asking one or two

just good questions

about what you're reading

in the Word,

what God's teaching you

in your life

so that you can encourage

one another

and grow in your maturity.

So in order to start

moving forward

in this kind of depth

of the knowledge of God,

we have to be devoted

to the Word

and we have to be doing it

in community.

But lastly,

we have to do it

in dependence on God.

Do you see how

the passage ends?

He says,

this we will do,

that is go on to maturity,

if God permits.

At the end of the day,

our knowledge of God

comes from God

and it depends upon Him.

We are dependent upon Him,

you see.

We can't learn anything

about God

unless He reveals it to us.

But you see,

that doesn't put us

in a helpless state

because God has given us

His Holy Spirit

and He wants us to know Him.

From the cross of Christ

flows the Spirit of Christ

for all who believe

and the Spirit will help us

overcome our inertia

and our dullness of hearing

and He'll help us

to make

and even find the time

to devote to the Word

and commit to community.

He'll help us.

We can depend on Him

and we ought to be

prayerfully dependent on Him

as we move forward.

So let us pray.

Let us depend on Him.

And as Paul promised elsewhere,

He who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion

at the day of Jesus Christ.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.