Server Outage Notice: TheSeed.info is transfering to a new Server on Tuesday April 13th
| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Rev. Mark Chen > Push to Grow Deeper in Christ | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) Psalter 406 - Exultant Praise Psalter 325 - Instruction in the Divine Law TH 468 - My Faith Has Found a Resting Place TH 516 - Jesus, I Live to Thee |
Push to Grow Deeper in Christ
Hebrews 5:8-6:3
There are people who really believe in a particular health product. They say - “If you’re unwell, take this supplement. If you do, you’ll find great health benefits.” And as with any tonic, you’d need to take it consistently. If you do, your health improves. If you don’t, well, you won’t. And with all medications, there’s a cumulative effect. Stop taking and they lose efficacy. Take consistently, you feel the benefits. Like how 10 reps once a month does nothing, but 10 reps daily shows results. Or so I’ve been told. In Hebrews, we’ve heard urgent and intense exhortations to fear, hear, and persevere. Why? Because of the risk of unbelief. Life’s not easy. It’s full of temptations and troubles. But if we go to Christ our priest consistently for help, we find comfort and victory over sin. After all, he’s victorious in heaven. He’s compassionate, willing to help us. And so we must learn to go consistently and boldly to him in times of need. But do we? Do we exercise faith consistently? Labor consistently to follow his example?
So here, the writer exhorted them not to stop going to this Great High Priest for help. If they continued and pushed ahead in seeking him, they’d find rest and relief and victory. But they hadn’t. They downplayed Christ and were feeling the effects. And so he addressed this in 3 points. Firstly, we downplay Christ when we won’t push. Secondly, we backslide when we don’t grow. Thirdly, we grow when we deepen in Christ.
Firstly, we downplay Christ when we won’t push. Last week, we saw Christ described as a priest after the order of Melchizedek. The author explains more in chapter 7 but already he can’t contain his excitement. He starts to explain the wonderful role Christ played for his people. We point out again how Christ is our hero and why we shouldn’t downplay him. Verse 8 says, “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.” He’s God the Son - the Second Person of the Trinity - coeternal with God. But he’s the Son of God, the master of the house - not a servant like Moses, but heir. And as Son - he became a man, learning obedience from the things he suffered. The first Adam, the moment he was confronted with the fruit, he caved. Disobedience! This second Adam, the better Son, always rejected temptation, never caving. And he suffered. In the wilderness, hungry; at the cross, thirsty; on the boat, tired; at the temple, angry; at the tomb, sad; at the garden, betrayed; at the ninth hour, forsaken. Never at any time, did he turn his eyes from his Father. He pushed ahead to obey, in the midst of suffering. And when he finished his task of obedience, he was made perfect, verse 9 - meaning, he passed, he graduated, he finished. “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” He’s able to save every single of his subjects - those who submit to him, worship him, believe him.
And we learn that he’s appointed by God to be a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Wow! He’s not just captain of our salvation, or author of our salvation, he’s not just Son, but High Priest. And not any high priest - but a high priest after the order of Melchizedek! Do you know what that means? How wonderful that title and rank is? You don’t know do you?! Well, neither did the Hebrew Christians. They should have, but they didn’t! If I were to say the title “Triwizard Champion” you wouldn’t get it because you don’t read Harry Potter. He’s the winner of THE Triwizard tournament. Or if I said “Indominus Rex” you won’t understand unless you’ve watched Jurassic World. That’s the fiercest and strongest dinosaur. But what about a high priest after the order of Melchizedek? Shouldn’t we know? Aren’t we all believers?
But even they didn’t get it. Verse 11 shows the shameful sloth they displayed - “Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.” The author had many things to say about Christ being a Melchizedekian high priest. It would be such a comfort to them. But it was hard to explain. Why? It can be hard to explain because it’s a difficult subject or because the explainer isn’t articulate. But here, it was another reason. His readers were at fault - they were dull of hearing, or rather, in the perfect tense - they had become dull of hearing. Once upon a time, they weren’t but now they had become dull of hearing. The word “dull” literally means – “no push.” They were too spiritually lazy to exert any spiritual pressure. While Christ learned obedience by resisting temptation, not giving into his flesh - even at Gethsemane - pushing all the way to say - not my will but thine; the Hebrew Christians didn’t. Christ was all push; they were no push. And the author’s point was this - we’ll never learn obedience or grow if we don’t push ourselves to look to Christ and obey in times of crisis.
For example, we can learn about patience - that we must have it; but unless we exercise it in times of impatience, then we’ll never really understand patience. We know God commands purity, but if we don’t look at Christ’s purity and exercise ourselves unto it, we’ll never understand the wonderful freedom that comes with holiness. But here, they were to push to know they were not alone. God’s not a hard task master. He’s given a loving high priest to help us in those times of weakness. Christ understands our weakness but he also knows how to help us push. He’s all push We just need to go to him and cultivate a consistent walk.
But they weren’t always slothful in this. There was a time they walked closely with Christ, calling on him, using the means of grace. They were like Paul, who said in Philippians 3:12 - “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” The word “follow after” literally means to push forward. Paul was earnest. And the Hebrew Christians were once like this. But had become dull of hearing. At one point, they stopped pushing forward in listening and applying the Word, in coming to Christ for help, even resisting temptation. They didn’t want to grow anymore. They didn’t want to suffer anymore. And they backslided.
And the sad reality is this - when we don’t grow, we backslide. That’s the second point. This is a spiritual law. We n ever stand still in the Christian life. Verse 12 says, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” We learn here their obligation but regression. After being believers for so long, they were obligated to be teachers. But they’d regressed to the point they needed to be taught the basics. Meaning, if you’re not pushing ahead, you’re not standing still, you regress. As teachers, they could’ve influence others to grow spiritually to teach others to look to Christ in times of temptation. See how the Lord Jesus suffered, denied self, withstood mockery, and didn’t retaliate! He can help you! Maybe they could’ve also shared their own experience of overcoming sin by looking at Christ their priest. But there was regression. They forgot. They needed to learn these basics again - these glorious truths that Christ helps! I have a friend who was missionary to Kenya decades ago. She learned a valuable lesson in childhood that should’ve served her well there. Her father taught her to keep the petrol tank full and never to leave it part empty for long periods. Why? It would rust. And so that lesson would come in handy for her in Kenya where there were old cars. if only she listened and remembered.
And their regression affected their holiness. They weren’t growing holier and as such, they were not mature. Why? Because sanctification is maturation. Verses 12-13 say, “and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.” Often in our circles we think that the way to grow is by obtaining knowledge. Since babies drink milk, then I must eat meat - learn more doctrines. But that’s not the meaning here. The baby has a lot of nutrition; milk is very healthy. But the baby differs from the adult because he’s inexperienced. The word “babe” in Greek literally means one who can’t speak – someone inexperienced. And verse 13 says they’re unskillful in the word of righteousness. Babes are inexperienced in making moral decisions. So we need to understand that “milk, unskilled, and babe” don’t refer to a lack of information but a lack of skillfulness and righteousness. Their lack of righteousness showed immaturity. The reason? They weren’t looking to Christ. They didn’t know how to look to Christ. For example, we get sad. Sometimes sinfully. But as you look to Jesus, the man of sorrows; we see how he could still endure the cross because of the joy that was before him. We learn to push forward by looking to Christ. We learn to endure. Bit by bit, we have greater victory. This is what verse 14 says,“those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Those who habitually push toward holiness by looking at Christ are mature. They exercise themselves to discern good and evil. They work their spiritual muscles. They find strength from him to grow - even as he learned obedience so do we. At crisis points when our sinful desires are being confronted with the will of God, we exercise ourselves to look to Christ and receive strength from him to obey. Little steps, little exertions, little stretches, all lead to bigger steps, exertions, and stretches. God gives opportunities for growth, but when we neglect them, we’ll become spiritually dull. If you don’t exercise patience in small things, you’ll become duller the next time. If you don’t resist lust, it’ll come easier next time. If you don’t resist sinful feelings of anger and bitterness, you’ll be a bitterly angry person who blames others. Spiritual maturity is not how much you know about doctrine, church polity, church ministry, but how you exercise holiness and Christian character. Dearly beloved, do not be deceived - your maturity is not measured by how much you know, but by how much Christ shines in you.
And to grow, we must deepen in Christ. That’s the third point. But when people forget Christ, they find their holiness in something else. As I’ve said, some believers find their satisfaction, comfort, and righteousness in knowledge. Sanctification by doctrine. Others find their holiness in legalism and ceremony. And that’s what these Hebrew Christians were doing. Instead of going to Christ, as he’s revealed in the New Testament as the better high priest, they were tempted to return to the ceremonies of the Old Testament. So he told them to abandon the elementals of the Old Testament. The writer says in 6:1, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.” Having left the foundational teachings of the Old Testament that point to Christ, let’s grow up. Now, it may seem confusing to us. You need to learn the basic principles again (verse 12), but leave the basic principles behind (verse 1). The author uses parallelism to create a contrast. Why weren’t they growing? They weren’t focusing on the basic principle of Christ - that he’s our help in time of need. What were they doing instead? Some had returned to the foundational principles of the Old Testament that pointed to Christ. They went back to the ceremonies - the foundations - that taught less clearly about repentance from dead works and faith in God. It’s like some social media obsessed parents. They take many photos of their children and post online. And they keep looking at those cute photos when they neglect their living children in front of them. So they weren’t going to Christ, but to the ceremonies that pointed to Christ. What were these ceremonies? They consisted of baptisms or ablutions. In the Jewish mind, how would they be cleansed? By their ritual purification of being sprinkled with water mixed with the ashes of a heifer, of their ritual washing before eating - that’s why the Pharisees asked why Jesus’ disciples ate with unwashed hands. But Christ washes us with his blood!What else? The laying on of hands. Like how the high priest would lay his hands on the scape goat to take away the sins of the people. But God has put our sins on Christ! What else? The resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees, as we’ll see this evening, believed that the ethnic Jews will be saved. That they’d also escape eternal judgment because they were God’s people. But only those born again can enter God’s kingdom. So they needed to abandon such thinking. Legalism and rituals can never grow a person or mature him. Heritage can never make us right with God.
Christ is the only one that can mature us. Verse 1 and 3 - “let us go on unto perfection…And this will we do, if God permit.” If God permits - it’s Christ dependent. The author already pointed them to Christ the Melchizedekian high priest. If they embraced him, not legalism or ritualism, they’d grow. You see, dearly beloved - many of us still operate like old wine skin Christians. We’re legalists. We haven’t learned to look to Christ as our Great High Priest. To us, our Christianity is only filled with instructions and burdens. “To grow, you must do this or that. Children, must go to church you know! If not God will be angry. Don’t you know God’s law? You must obey God and keep his law! Only then will you be holy!” But we’ve forgotten the first principles - Christ is our savior, the one who’s obeyed all things for us because he loves. So our Christianity must be one of trust. “Children, Christ is your savior; the one who loves you and others in church with an everlasting love. So delight in God’s family. Let’s worship together our glorious savior! How can you be more obedient? Christ kept God’s laws! And he gives you power to love his laws and hate sins. Look to him, then you’ll delight in his laws!” One attitude has not seen Christ as the Great High Priest. The other trusts in him. That’s the first principles we must be reminded of. But when we forget, we fall back into a legalism.
Here’s an illustration - and I got permission to share this. In my Care Group Bible Study, like others, we’ve been studying Mark. When it came to the study on the Pharisees questioning Jesus on fasting and the Sabbath, one brother asked - isn’t it okay to run a marathon on the Lord’s Day if it’s once a year, and you can run to the glory of God. It was a sincere question. My response was simple - if you get who Christ is - the Savior who gathers the church he loves together; whom he’s saved - he’s the bridegroom with new wine; the fairest of ten thousand, the altogether lovely one; the high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Wouldn’t you want to be where God’s people are worshiping their God? Wouldn’t this one day a week trump a one day a year marathon? Wouldn’t your thirst be for the water of the Word as God’s people look together at the finish line in heaven? But if you lose sight of Christ our high priest, and his beauty, then you’ll start to question the legitimacy of worship and defend the legitimacy of sport. Then we’ll squabble about how to keep the law but the whole time, forgetting Christ. So similarly, they lost sight of Christ because they were no push. And it affected their holiness. For some of us our issue isn’t legalism but intellectualism. We find our sufficiency comes from knowledge of doctrines - but because doctrines don’t change character - we’ve all seen the disastrous effects of those who have a point to make without the grace of Christ to back them up. Others may not struggle with legalism or intellectualism, but service. Our sufficiency comes in how much we do for others. But we’ve also seen people who serve fall out while serving. That’s because legalism, intellectualism, and altruism can’t mature you. But in Christ we can be mature. If we keep going to him, our legalism will be turned to delight. He helps us keep the law, and mellows us by his grace. Our intellectualism will be turned into pastoral exhortation - we’ll demonstrate our maturity in teaching and counseling each other. And our service and altruism will be genuine - no self or pride involved.
Dearly beloved, we all need to apply this sermon. But how? Firstly, ask yourself what prevents your maturity and holiness. What’s your besetting sin? Go to Christ. Do you spend time with Christ? Asking him for help, going to his Word, relying on his Spirit to aid you in times of temptation. Do you push, or just cave into sin, putting yourself in harms’ way. Secondly, ask yourself the difficult question - how far have you regressed? And you can tell - you don’t go to Christ, you don’t even try to stop yourself from sinning - sin is your life - for years. You’re a bitter, angry, lustful, slothful, combative person, etc. In your regression, seek help from a fellow brother or sister. You need help to overcome. Christ your high priest has given you the church for your help - especially your officers. Without it, you’ll be a babe. And babes are dangerous. But Christ is in the business of maturing us. He’s a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. You must push to grow deeper in him.
1. We Downplay Christ When We Won’t Push (8-11)
A. The wonderful role Christ played
B. The shameful sloth we display
2. We Backslide When We Don’t Grow (12-14)
A. Their obligation but regression
B. Their sanctification is maturation
3. We Grow When We Deepen in Christ (1-3)
A. Abandoning the elementals
B. Embracing the Christ
Conversation for Change:
1. How would you compare your spiritual growth this year to what you possessed last year?
2. If you are regressing, prayer is the only means to halt that regression. But regression keeps you from prayer. But prayer keeps you from regression. How can you possibly pray when you don’t feel like praying?
3. Why can Bible knowledge, active service, and church attendance mask the true state of spirituality? Is it masking yours? But how can these disciplines, together with a heart of devotion toward Christ, accelerate your maturity?
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Rev. Mark Chen, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
(c) Copyright 2025, Rev. Mark Chen
Please direct any comments to the Webmaster
