The Demands of Maturity

Hebrews #13: an exposition of Hebrews 6:1-8. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist church on Sunday morning, July 6, 2014.

Intro:

The story is told that the evangelist D.L. Moody was walking down the streets of Chicago when a man stumbled out of a neighborhood bar and bumped into Mr. Moody.  Moody was jarred and the man fell to the ground.  Moody stopped and reached down to help the man up.  When the man look up and saw it was Moody, he became very excited and shouted, “Mr. Moody I’m one of your converts!”  To which Moody replied, “Sir you must be for you are certainly not one of the Lord’s.”  One of the unintended consequences of our doctrine of eternal security is a swallow understanding of conversion.  Too often it is assumed that all that is needed is an intellectual acceptance of biblical truth and a confession of that acceptance.  Thus people confidently profess they are saved because at such and such time they walked an aisle or said a prayer.  Never mind nothing changed.  Never mind there was been no further interest in spiritual matters, growth in spiritual knowledge or holy living.  Such an understanding of salvation is a deception.  It is not salvation at all.  Biblical salvation is the result of the working of God’s spirit awakening the soul to an awareness of sin’s presence in the life of the sinner.  Once that sin is known there is an understanding that the presence of such sin condemns.  An awareness that the sinner deserves the wrath and judgment of God.  Then comes a revelation of God’s mercy in the provision of the Lord Jesus.  In response to the beauty and wonder of Christ the sinner throws himself on the mercy of God in Christ submitting to the Lordship of Jesus and pledging to follow or obey him.  With this conversion comes the presence of the Holy Spirit within the life of the believer and the Spirit begins the work of sanctification which will be an on-going work until that believer stands in the presence of God without spot or blemish.  With life comes growth.  If there is no growth there is no life.

“Well pastor thanks for the theological moment but what’s the point?  Why are you tell us this?” We are heading into turbulent waters.  The tide has been turning for sometime.  Our faith, once dominant, is now marginalized.  According to recent studies 1 out of 3 Americans said the first amendment goes to far in the freedom it promises.  Specifically its promise to protect freedom of religion.  A growing number want to limit our freedom of worship and put limits on what we can preach.  In the name of tolerance the culture is becoming increasingly intolerant of our beliefs.  What will sustain us in the storm that lies ahead is a solid, biblical understanding of conversion which is the foundation of spiritual growth and maturity.  Maturity, growing up in Christ, is the call of God for every believer.  Our text this morning is found in the 6th chapter of Hebrews.

Text: Hebrews 6:1-8

Verse 1 clearly indicates what follows is a continuation of what has just been stated in chapter 5.  There the writer rebuked the willful immaturity of the believers in Rome.  They had grown sluggish of ear.  No longer interested in spiritual matters or biblical truth.  As a result they had digressed in their faith.  No longer able to take solid food they were back to nursing on a bottle.  Now the writer calls on the church to “leave the elementary things and go on to maturity.”

As we work through the opening verse of chapter 6 we discover that…

Thesis: The call to mature faith demands a solid foundation and an understanding spirit.

There are three things I want to point out along the way.

  1. The mature believer is thoroughly grounded in the truth.  (6:1-3)
  2. The mature believer understands the devastating consequences of abandoning the gospel.      (6:4-6)
  3. The mature believer accepts God’s sovereign judgment in response to the life lived.  (6:7-8)
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