["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Thank you for this church, Lord. Thank you for these people coming out here on a Wednesday evening to serve you.
I pray that I sing one to glorify you, Lord. I pray that you bless the service and the preaching to come.
In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
All right, turn to your song books, page number 434.
Page 434. We're going to sing A Little Town of Bethlehem.
Page 434, and let's sing it out on the first.
Oh, little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark street shineth the everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight
Page 434 on the second.
For Christ is born of Mary and gathered all the love
While mortal sleep the angels keep their watch of wondering love
Oh, morning stars together proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King and peace to men on earth
On the third, how silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of his health
No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in
Let's finish it strong on the last.
Oh, holy child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray
Gas out our sins and enter in, be born in us today
We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings tell
Oh, come to us, abide with us, oh Lord Emmanuel
Great singing.
Amen. We want to welcome you to Verity Baptist Church this evening.
We are glad that you are with us. Let's go ahead and take our bulletins.
We'll look at some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a bulletin, just slip your hand up and we will get one for you.
The verse this week, Psalm 72, 11.
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him.
And that's a good verse there. We like that.
If you open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 1030 a.m.
And we of course invite you to be with us on Sunday on the Lord's Day for Church.
Sunday evening service is normally at 6 p.m. this week.
We're going to be on a different schedule and you'll see that here in the bulletin of course.
If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m.
And then the Thursday and Friday soul winning times are postponed due to work days.
And the Sunday soul winning time will also be postponed this Sunday due to the holiday schedule.
So we've got the main soul winning time at 10 a.m.
Here's your opportunity, so make sure you are there for that.
And we of course are a family integrated church.
What that means is that children and infants are always welcomed in the service.
We do not separate children from their parents for any reason.
We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
Make sure that you are using those rooms.
And if you're not sure where those rooms are at, you can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of our church building.
And let's not allow the children to just interrupt the service.
Make sure we're taking the kids out if they are causing a distraction.
If you need to be baptized, please let us know.
We'd love to baptize you and all you need to do is let us know on your communication card.
On your card, on the back, there's a place for you to check off that you'd like information about baptism.
And we will follow up with you and talk to you about that.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course this weekend we have Thursday, Friday, Saturday is the workdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
We have three clipboards in the foyer with three different shifts for all the days.
And again, we're just still in this mudding and texturing phase.
So if you have the ability to do mudding and texturing, please let us know.
And please, actually just don't let us know.
Just sign up.
You don't have to tell us anything.
Just sign up and show up and that'd be helpful.
And we could really use your help with that, all right?
And I realize that not everybody, there's lots of people that want to help and you're not able to.
But if you're able to, if you have the skills, you could really use your help.
Especially this week, maybe you're taking some time off of work.
Maybe you'll give us a little bit of your time and we appreciate your help with that.
And then we just want you to be aware of the schedules coming up.
Of course this Sunday is going to be the 24th.
So Sunday morning service is going to be just the normal 1030 a.m. service.
There'll be no soul winning time this Sunday.
At 4 p.m. we're going to have our hot chocolate and Christmas cookie fellowship in the fellowship hall.
And then at 5 p.m. is our Christmas Eve service.
We just want you to be aware of that.
We're starting one hour early at 5 p.m., not 6 p.m.
And we will be done at 6 p.m.
We'll be done with the service at 6 p.m.
And that way you'll have the rest of the evening.
Of course it'll be Christmas Eve.
And if you have anything that you normally do on Christmas Eve, then we want you to have the time to be able to do that.
You also have one of these invitations here in your bulletin.
You should have one of these invitations.
And if you've been thinking about inviting a friend or a coworker or somebody to church Christmas Eve service,
you can invite them to either service.
In the morning the children's choir will be singing.
In the evening the adult choir will be singing.
But you can use this as an opportunity to invite somebody to church, a family member, a friend.
So make sure you use this card.
Make sure that you are in your place for that.
And normally we do a lot of big pushes around this time of year.
We have sent some mailers out, but we're not pushing it as hard as we normally do.
Mainly because we just really don't even have the room just with our own church family on Sunday.
And of course transitioning into the new building and all of that.
So we just want you, you can be aware of the fact that you can invite somebody to church.
And we'd love for you to invite somebody to church on Christmas, for the Christmas Eve service of course.
And then you also have your Christmas gifts for Jesus, a half sheet there in the bulletin.
And of course you can continue to do that and help with that.
And that will be available even through Christmas into the 31st.
And anything you purchase off this list, it's for sure something that we can use, that we will use.
And it helps the church out.
You can drop it off at the Christmas gifts for Jesus drop off.
And then of course if you'd just like to make a special donation for Christmas gifts for Jesus, you're welcome to do that as well.
You can write a check or cast or whatever.
And it helps the church especially at this time while we're doing work on the other property.
We would appreciate any extra help that you can do or help with that.
And then we want you to be aware of the nine chapters a day.
Of course in January we challenge the entire church family to read nine chapters a day in the month of January in the New Testament.
Read the entire New Testament in the month of January.
You have one of these charts in your bulletin and we just want you to be thinking about that.
And if you've read nine chapters a day before, if you've accomplished the task, make sure you do it again.
Alright, it's good to be in the Word of God, start the year off in the Word of God.
And if you've never done it, then this is the year.
You need to do it and it'll be good for you.
You'll be glad you did.
You won't regret it.
So make sure that you pick whether you want to read straight through or whether you want to split up the reading.
And you have two grace period days on both sides and it'll be a lot of fun.
You'll be glad you did it.
So make sure we are ready for that choir practice.
They've got choir at 3 p.m. this Sunday if you are part of the adult choir before the hot chocolate and cookie fellowship at 4 p.m.
So just make sure you're aware of that.
And then there's other things there for you to look at.
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service.
They're not a distraction to anybody.
If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for this week.
We had Miss Kim Morello's birthday and Checho Pompa's birthday.
Levi Taylor's birthday.
And Brother Scott and Miss Lisa Sweeten's anniversary was all on Sunday, December 17th.
And then yesterday was Samuel Vokulchik's birthday.
And tomorrow we have Chadwick Pompa's birthday on December 21st.
And then my parents, Felix and Grenis Jimenez are having an anniversary on December 23rd.
Praise Report, Money Matters, all of those things are there for you to look at.
And I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and take our song books.
And let's go to page number 432.
Page number 432.
And we're going to sing Angels from the Realms of Glory as we prepare to receive the offering this evening.
Go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Angels from the realms of glory, bring your fight o'er all the earth.
Ye who sang creation's glory, now proclaim Isaiah's word.
Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.
432 on the second.
Shepherds in the fields abiding, watching o'er your flocks by night.
God with menace now residing, gondershine the infant life.
Come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.
Say, just leave your contemplations, brighter visions beam afar.
Take the great beat there of nations, ye have seen his natal's fly.
Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.
Good, sing out on the last.
Saints before the altar bend, watching long in hope and fear.
Suddenly the Lord descending, in his temple shall appear.
Come and worship, come and worship, worship Christ the newborn King.
Amen.
Good singing.
We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time.
And let's go in and bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
We thank you for allowing us to gather together tonight.
Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering, the gift and the giver.
Lord, we ask that you would just continue to meet our financial needs.
And Lord, we pray that you'd meet with us as we take time to pray for our church family.
And of course, as we study the Bible together, in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
All right.
Well, let's go ahead and take our prayer sheets tonight.
If you cannot get a prayer sheet on your way in, just raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you.
If you need a prayer list, just put your hand up and we will get one for you.
And of course, I want to remind you that the way you add a request to the prayer sheet is through your communication card on the back of the card.
Just a place for you to write down a request.
Make sure you mark whether it's private or public.
If it's private, only I will see it.
If it's public, we'll put it on the prayer sheet.
If you don't mark it, we'll do our best to figure it out.
We usually don't put those on and the requests are added in the order that they are received.
They are removed after a couple of weeks, so just make note of that.
If you'd like it to be there longer, you'll have to fill out another communication card.
We do want you to just, if you would, write in to the prayer sheet on the back there for safe and healthy pregnancies for the expecting mothers.
If you would write in Ms. Esther Davidson's name and we'll be praying for her.
And congratulations to Brother Andrew and Ms. Esther on expecting another baby.
Let's hope the next one is as smiley as the first one.
That's the smileiest baby I've ever seen.
But praise the Lord for that.
Let's go ahead and bow our heads together and I'm going to pray out loud and I ask that you pray in your mind and your heart.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we come to you tonight asking for these requests from our church family, Lord.
And we begin with these requests regarding health and we pray for Ms. Mary Prince who's praying for healing as she undergoes treatment for breast cancer.
And Lord, we pray for Ms. Michelle Scott who's praying for her co-worker, Deben, and for positive results for medical testing for his heart.
And we're praying for Ms. Maria Cottulima who's praying for Natasha to be healed from breast cancer and also for Peter to be healed from liver cancer.
And Lord, we are also praying for Ms. Christine Ortiz for her health and also for her sister Judy's health as she battles cancer as well.
We're praying for Brother Salvador and his health, Ms. Dogma, and her pain and asking that you relieve her pain, heal her pain.
We're praying with Brother Edgar and Ms. Selena for Urezi that she would just continue to be healthy and strong.
And Lord, we pray for our missionary, Dave Cabuntala's wife, Ms. Angel, as she's battling breast cancer as well, Lord.
And we just pray for all of these individuals.
Lord, we ask that you would heal them.
Lord, we pray that you would put your healing hand over them and we know that you are able to.
Lord, we are agreeing in faith, believing that you can heal these individuals.
Lord, we pray you do so. We pray that you would bless the medicines they're on, the medications they're on.
We ask that you give their doctors and nurses and the people helping them, that you'd give them wisdom and discernment to be able to know how to help them.
And Lord, we just ask that your will would be done in the lives of these individuals.
We also just have a praise report from Ms. J.C. for her sister Terry's hip surgery going well and recovery going well.
And we want to just acknowledge that, Lord, that you've answered a prayer there and we want to just thank you for that.
And Lord, we want to pray for these that have physical needs, financial needs.
And we'll pray for Brother Joe Loqueta praying for a good transition into their new home in Fair Oaks.
And Brother Salvador praying for his finances and work.
And also a praise report from Ms. Christine Ortiz that she found a place to live with her daughter.
Lord, we just ask for these requests. We pray that your will be done, Lord, and that you would help these individuals.
And we pray for these that are praying for their friends and family, for their Mike praying for his family,
and Ms. Denise Anderson praying for her nephew Steven, and Maria praying for Roma to be drug free,
and Teresa praying for her family to get back in church and that God would restore her family.
And Ms. Christine praying for her niece, Tanya, who we've been missing and she would be found that she'd be safe.
Praying for Brother Salvador and for his family. And Lord, we ask for all of these individuals,
Lord, we pray that you would help them and guide them and be with them.
And Lord, we pray that your will be done in their lives.
And then, Lord, we ask for these that have requests regarding salvation.
Ms. Natalie praying for the salvation of her husband and family.
Brother Ron praying for his mom and his family's salvation.
Ms. Hermalisa praying for more people to be saved in general.
And Ms. Christine Ortiz praying for her family's salvation.
Ms. Thakma praying for her daughter and her family's salvation.
And Lord, we ask for all these individuals.
We pray that you would be with them and help them, Lord.
We ask that your Holy Spirit would work in the hearts and the minds of these individuals
and that you would help them to come to the place where they would be willing and able to be saved, Lord,
and that a soul winner would communicate the gospel clearly to them.
And Lord, we want to pray for these ladies that are expecting for Ms. Victoria, Ms. Julissa, Ms. Ruby, Ms. Taylor,
and also Ms. Esther that you'd give them all healthy pregnancies with no issues, no complications, Lord.
We pray for these that are asking for their walk with you.
Ms. Hermalisa praying for guidance and wisdom.
And Ms. Christine and Brother Salvador praying for their faith and their walk with you.
And of course we pray for our ministries here in our church,
for the prison ministries and their families that you would just continue to bless that ministry
and help us as we minister to those individuals.
Lord, we pray for the workdays.
Lord, we ask that you would allow everything to work out the way it's supposed to, Lord,
and we pray that you would please help everything to be safe over there as the men work.
And Lord, help us to get the help that we need and to be able to get past this muddying and texturing phase.
And Lord, we pray that you would just continue to help us as we move forward in that end, Lord,
and help us be able to move in and transition to that future building soon.
We pray for our missions work in Manila Pampangan B. Cole.
We pray for Pastor Stecky and his family that you'd continue to bless and help them.
And then of course we ask for our church here in Sacramento, Lord,
that you'd continue to meet our needs, help us, guide us.
Lord, we ask tonight as we open up your word and study another portion of scripture,
Lord, that you would speak to our hearts.
And Lord, I pray that even now your Holy Spirit would begin to work in the hearts and minds of everyone that's here tonight, Lord,
that you would help us to minimize distractions, help us to be attentive, Lord.
To hear from your word, help us to draw close to you, Lord,
and help us to grow as a result of the things we hear tonight.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Please open up to Hebrews Chapter 5.
Hebrews Chapter 5.
If you do not have a Bible, please put your hand up and unless you can bring a Bible.
Hebrews Chapter 5.
Just keep your hand up or she'll come by.
Hebrews 5.
We read the entire chapter as our custom.
Hebrews 5, and then verse number 1.
For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God,
that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way,
for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest.
But he that said unto him, And art my son, today have I begotten thee.
As he saith also in another place, and art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears,
unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard and that he feared,
though he were a son, yet learnt he obedient for the things which he suffered.
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,
called of God, an high priest after the order of Melchizedek,
of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
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.
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
That strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening.
God, I thank you for your word and prayer church.
May I see you please meet with us tonight.
May I see you be their pastor to strengthen him and fill him with spirit.
We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen.
Amen.
All right, we're there in Hebrews, chapter number four.
Excuse me, chapter number five.
And we've been making our way through the book of Hebrews on Wednesday nights,
going verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
And tonight we find ourselves here at the end of chapter number five.
And we're going to be finishing up chapter number five tonight.
And there's just this small section at the end of the chapter that deals with a very specific subject.
In fact, I'd like for us to just read it so that you can see.
And just to get a little bit of the context, let's just start reading in verse number nine there,
Hebrews chapter five and verse nine.
The Bible says this,
And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey,
called of God and high priests after the order of Melchizedek,
of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
And then I'd like you to notice these next few verses, which we'll be dealing with tonight.
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 to have need of milk and not of strong meat.
For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
These verses that we've read have to do with the subject of spiritual maturity.
And I'd like to speak to you for a few minutes tonight on the subject of spiritual maturity.
We're only going to deal with four verses.
In fact, I'd like to give you four statements from these four verses.
And there was a time in my ministry when I used to worry about,
sometimes people would make me feel worried about how much content we would cover,
maybe in a sermon, but I've let go of that a long time ago.
Some might criticize, you know, you're only dealing with three verses or four verses at a time.
First of all, the book of Hebrews is so dense, the word of God is so dense,
that sometimes we just need to slow down to look at what it says.
The other thing I've learned is that I'm just going to be preaching three times a week for the rest of my life,
so I'm not really in a rush, and I'm not in a hurry.
I don't know if you are, but we need to learn these things from the word of God.
I'd like for us to look at this subject, this idea of spiritual maturity.
And if you look at verse 11 again, the Bible says this, of whom?
And we already read verses 9 and 10, and we talked about it last week,
so I won't take the time to go through it.
The whom there is being referred to as Melchizedek,
and we're going to study Melchizedek later when we get into chapter 7,
and we'll go through all the things we can about Melchizedek and all there is to know.
But the writer of the book of Hebrews is getting ready to enter into this conversation about Melchizedek.
That's what he wants to talk about, and we're going to have to get through chapter 6 to get there.
And there's all these things, these preliminary things that he has to explain
and kind of help them understand and set them up for in order to learn about Melchizedek.
And really, that context begins here in verse 11.
I mean, we already started talking about Melchizedek earlier in chapter 5.
He says, of whom we have many things to say.
He says, I've got a lot of things I want to say to you regarding Melchizedek.
He says, the problem with that is that the things that I want to say, he says they are hard to be uttered.
He says, of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered.
And the idea there, when he says these things are hard to be uttered, it's that they're hard to communicate.
They're hard for him to explain, and they're also hard for the people to receive.
I feel like I've got a little bit of an echo. If you could help me with that, I'd appreciate it.
He says that they are hard to be uttered, meaning it's a difficult thing to communicate.
But then he says this, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
He says the problem is with the things I need to communicate, they're difficult to communicate.
He says the other problem is that you, talking to his intended audience, he says you are dull of hearing.
And that word dull there, the same word that's translated dull there in our King James Bible,
the underlying Greek word that's translated dull is also translated in our King James Bible as slothful.
And the idea is that they're being lazy. They're being apathetic. They're being uninterested.
Usually when we would use the word dull, we might say someone is dull, and we would say that they're boring.
But he says that they are dull of hearing, that they are bored with the things that they're supposed to be hearing,
that they're not interested in. They're being lazy, and they're learning the things that they need to know.
He says I've got some things that you need to understand, but these things are difficult to be uttered.
They're difficult to communicate. They're difficult to understand.
And he said the problem is that you are dull of hearing. You are lazy when it comes to what you need to know from the Word of God.
That's the context that the writer of Hebrews then leads us into verse number 12
when he begins to talk about this idea of spiritual maturity.
And there are several things here that I'd like you to notice about spiritual maturity.
And I'll give you four thoughts, and maybe you can jot these down.
And I'd love for you to jot them down and write them down.
I hope that you're taking notes or in the back of your course this week there's a place for you to do that.
Let me give you these four thoughts that we get from these four verses.
And the first thought is this, that spiritual maturity, because he's going to delve into the subject of spiritual maturity,
growing spiritually, becoming a mature Christian.
And the first thing we see here is that spiritual maturity is expectable.
It is something that can be and should be and by God and certain individuals is expected.
Look at verse 12. Notice what he says.
He says he just got done saying, I've got some things I need to say to you.
I've got some things that are hard to be uttered.
And the problem is that I've got some things that are going to be difficult for you to understand.
And you are dull of hearing.
And then he says, and here's what I mean by that.
Here's what I mean by you being dull of hearing.
He says here's the reason why you're dull of hearing.
He says for, when, the word for means because.
He says because when for the time.
I just want you to notice these three little words, excuse me, four little words.
He says this, ye ought to be.
He says for when the time ye ought to be teachers.
And now he goes on to say, ye of need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God.
And we're going to look at all those words and all that passage here in a minute.
But I first just want to focus in on that little phrase, ye ought to be.
Ye ought to be.
And that little phrase, the idea is that there is an expectation.
He says there are some things that you ought to be.
There is somewhere you already ought to be.
There is a certain amount of spiritual growth the writer of Hebrews is saying to those to whom he is writing.
And he's saying there's an expectation there of somewhere that you already ought to be.
Keep your place there in Hebrews 5. That's our text for tonight.
Go with me if you would to the book of 2 Peter chapter number 3.
2 Peter chapter 3, if you're there in Hebrews, if you go past the book of James, past 1 Peter, into 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter number 3, and look at verse number 18.
And I want to begin by saying this.
There is an expectation for spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity is expectable.
God expects us to grow spiritually for when the time ye ought to be.
And the question that I want to ask plainly to you tonight, and please don't answer it out loud, but I hope you will take the time to answer it.
I hope that you will take the time to think about it and wrestle with it in your own mind and your heart if needed and really ask yourself this question.
Where is it in your Christian life that ye ought to be?
Where should you be?
I mean, where should you be?
And that is a different answer for every question, for every individual.
Maybe you just got saved last night and you are where you ought to be on a Wednesday night.
Praise God for that.
But a lot of you didn't get saved last night or last week or last month.
You've got to ask yourself this question.
Where should I ought to be spiritually?
Where does God expect that I be in my Christian life?
Because we need to understand this as spiritual maturity is expected.
It is expectable.
We can't expect for a Christian to grow spiritually.
The writer of Hebrews is telling these individuals that for whatever it's worth, wherever they find themselves,
he believes, and he's speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, that they ought to be teachers at this time.
But they're not.
For when the time ye ought to be.
And I want you to understand that spiritual growth is expected.
It is something that God expects from us.
2 Peter chapter 3, look at verse 18.
Notice this little phrase.
But grow in grace.
The sentence, but grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, is what we would refer to as an imperative sentence.
It is giving a command.
It is telling us to do something.
And there's an implied subject.
The implied subject is you.
The implied subject is myself.
The implied subject is anyone who reads it.
We are being told to grow in grace.
But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.
And here's what we need to understand.
When it comes to salvation, salvation is obviously the number one goal.
We're a soul-wedding church and we want to get people saved.
We want people to know for sure they're on their way to heaven.
We want them to put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
To call upon him for salvation.
That they might be born again and that they might be saved.
That's something we are interested in and that's something that is extremely important to us.
However, we also need to remember that salvation is just the first step.
That is just the first thing that God wants.
The first thing that God wants in our lives is for us, for you, for myself, for anyone to be saved.
That's step number one.
But then there comes this lifelong journey of sanctification.
The next step is sanctification which is spiritual growth.
God wants us to be saved and God wants us to grow.
Now if you don't grow, you're still saved.
But God does desire for every Christian and he expects for every Christian to grow.
But grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
If you're there in 2 Peter 3, go back to 1 Peter chapter 1.
Look at verse 23. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 23.
1 Peter 1, 23 has this very famous phrase that's found in the Bible.
And it is this, being born again, used by the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 3.
Marvel not that I said unto you, you must be born again.
This is a reference to salvation.
Salvation is being born again.
It happens in a moment of time when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever.
And the Bible uses this illustration or this analogy of birth to describe salvation.
We are born again into the family of God.
We are birthed into his family and God becomes our Heavenly Father.
However, in the same way that you expected to not only have a child if you've been blessed with having children,
not only was there a day that that child was born, and yes that was an amazing day,
and that was a wonderful day, the day that your children were born.
I remember every single one of the births of our six children and the day that they were born was a wonderful day.
But then there's this expectation for them to grow.
We are to be born again, but then God wants us to grow.
Notice 1 Peter chapter 2. Look at verse 2.
1 Peter 2, 2.
As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word,
notice these words, that ye may grow thereby.
See, we often act like salvation is the end game.
We get somebody saved and that's it. It's all done.
But wait a minute. Was it all done the day your children were born?
Wasn't that just the beginning?
There was a whole 18 years, 20 years, 25 years, 30 years for some of you,
where your parents were supporting you, where your parents were raising you,
where your parents were helping you develop and grow.
And the idea is that God wants us to be born again, yes, but then He wants us to grow.
But grow in grace, for when the time ye ought to be teachers.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 5.
Look at verse 12 again.
I said number 1, spiritual maturity is expectable.
It is something that is to be expected.
And I want you to know this, that God expects it from you.
Not only does God expect it from you, but for whatever it's worth, I expect it from you.
Everything we do around here falls under two categories.
Reach people and teach people.
We want to reach people with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
and then we want to teach them to observe all things whatsoever He has commanded us.
And the goal is for you to grow.
You say, what is it that you're trying to accomplish here at Verity Baptist Church?
Why would you have a Wednesday evening service where you go verse by verse,
chapter by chapter, through books of the Bible?
Why would you have a Sunday night service and a Sunday morning service?
Why have a discipleship class?
Why have all these different things?
We'll just be quite honest with you.
Our goal is for you to grow and mature spiritually.
It is something that God and our church expects.
And I hope you expect it.
So you need to ask the question, what ought you to be by now?
However long you've been coming, however long you've been growing,
however long you've been going to a church like this,
because Paul here had a very clear expectation.
He says, for when, for the time ye ought to be teachers,
he was very clear about the fact that there was an expectation.
So I said, number one, spiritual maturity is expectable.
But the second statement, which is also found here in verse 12, is this,
that not only is spiritual maturity expectable, but spiritual maturity is reversible.
Notice what he says there in verse 12.
For when the time ye ought to be teachers,
that's where they ought to be, that's where they're expected to be,
he says, ye have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the oracles of God,
notice what he says,
and are become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat.
He said, not only have you not came to the place that we expected you to be,
he said, you've actually reverted.
You've actually reversed.
He says, not only are we at a time when you ought to be teachers,
but he said, if it's not enough that you've not reached that expectation,
he said, you've actually gone back and 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.
Now what is he saying when he says that they have become such as need of milk?
What he's saying is, you're still a baby.
You're a babe spiritually.
He said, you've not gotten to the place where God expects you to be,
or anything, he said you've reversed back to being a baby.
Look at verse 13.
For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness,
for he is a babe.
We just saw it in 1 Peter 2, 2.
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.
Now here's the thing.
There's nothing wrong with needing milk if you're a baby.
Nothing wrong with that.
If you got saved last night,
according to the Bible, what you need is the sincere milk of the word of God.
We need to begin to feed you what the Bible calls milk,
but he says there's an expectation for other people to move on from milk
and to go on to strong meat.
Now he's going to tell us what strong meat is versus milk.
It might surprise you that it's not what you think it is,
because we often use these verses and these terminologies,
and I'm not saying that the way that they are used are bad,
but I don't think they're within the context of what the writer of Hebrews is saying.
He says spiritual maturity is expectable and spiritual maturity is reversible.
Now when we talk about reversing,
when we talk about this idea of going backwards,
go to Hosea 11 in the Old Testament.
Towards the end of the Old Testament you have those big books of the Bible,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations Ezekiel, and then you have Daniel and Hosea.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations Ezekiel, Daniel and Hosea.
Get to Hosea 11 if you would.
Do me a favor.
When you get there, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there,
because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it.
Hosea 11.
The writer of Hebrews is telling us about these individuals
that based off who they are, how long they've been saved,
the ministry that they've been under,
the things they've learned, the things they've been taught,
he says there's an expectation that ye ought to be teachers,
but he said the problem with you is that though spiritual maturity is expectable,
spiritual maturity is reversible,
and though you ought to be teachers,
he said you have need that one teach you again.
It's not that they were never taught, but they need to be taught again,
which be the first principles of the oracle of God.
He says because you when you should be mature
or become such as need of milk and not of strong meat.
The idea is this, that they were not moving forward,
they were moving backward.
Now when we talk about moving backward spiritually,
I mean let's just be very plain with what we're saying.
The biblical word for that is backsliding or being backslidden.
You say how do I know if I'm backslidden?
Well ask yourself this question.
Am I doing more for God today than I have been ever in my life?
Am I more right, am I just as right or more right with God today?
I'm saying how's your Bible reading today?
Has there ever been a time in your life when your Bible reading habit was better than it is today?
Has there ever been a time in your life when your church attendance has been more consistent than it is right now?
When your prayer time has been better than it is right now?
When your soul winning has been more consistent than it is right now?
I'm just helping you diagnose this because if you can say,
well I used to be more consistent, I used to be a better soul winner,
I used to read the Bible more, I used to pray more,
then you are by definition, excuse me, you are backslidden.
You have reversed.
You have gone back.
You ought to be here but instead you are here because though spiritual maturity is expectable,
spiritual maturity is also reversible.
Notice what God says to the children of Israel in the Old Testament,
Hosea chapter 11 verse 7.
And my people are bent.
That word bent means they have a tendency towards, they lean towards, they just lean towards it.
This is a verse that bothers me because of the reality of it.
He says, my people are bent to backsliding from me.
The hymn writer said it this way, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.
Notice Hosea 14 and verse 4.
He says, Hosea 14 and verse 4, I will heal their backsliding.
God can heal our backsliding.
But one thing we need to understand is this, that we are bent to backslide.
We are prone to backsliding.
My people are bent to backsliding from me.
Though they call them to the most high, none at all would exalt him.
Keep your place there in Hosea.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 5, if you would.
Keep your place in Hosea. We're going to come right back to it.
Hebrews chapter 5.
You say, well, what do you do?
Well, I want you to notice what the writer of Hebrews tells us.
This is what the Bible tells us throughout Scripture.
And here's the truth.
The reason that Hosea 11 and 7 bothers me so much,
I love it because it's the Word of God.
I know it's true, but sometimes the Word of God is so true
that you're just kind of like, I wish that wasn't true.
Because this phrase is true,
and if you don't know it to be true, just start working with people
and you'll realize how true it is.
My people are bent to backsliding from me.
That's true.
It's true of the Old Testament nation of Israel and it's true of Verity Baptist Church.
I don't need to know you very well to know this,
that this is probably true of you.
My people are bent to backsliding from me.
In my life I've met people,
and in my life I've known people,
and by God's grace we have some people in this church that are like this,
and I thank God for it.
Every once in a while I'll meet somebody who,
I don't know what it is.
Honestly, I don't know what it is.
If I could figure out what it was,
then I would figure out how to do it to everyone.
But just this type of individual that you just teach them something,
and they just look at it and they say,
well, that's what the Bible says,
and it's just a lifelong thing for them.
You just go to them and say, hey, look, the Bible says
God wants you to read your Bible every day,
and they're just like, done.
And they just have the consistency, the discipline, the character.
I don't know the love for God, the motivation.
I'm not sure what it is, but they just,
God said it, I'm going to do it,
and they just read the Bible every day.
Some people are like that with soul winning.
You just go to them and you say, look, here, the Bible says,
go ye therefore, God commands you.
God expects you to be a soul winner, like, done.
God wants me to be a soul winner, I'll be a soul winner.
And then it's just, you know,
they pick a soul winning time and they're just there.
Saturday after Saturday after Saturday after Saturday,
they're just a soul winner.
It's just what they do.
There are some people, and God blessed them,
who are like that.
But what I've learned over 13 years of ministry
is that the vast majority of people are not like that.
The vast majority of people, you teach them,
hey, God wants you to be a soul winner.
God expects you to win souls.
People are dying to go to hell!
And they're like, oh, oh, oh, crying, okay.
And they show up for like one or two or three weeks
and then it just kind of tapers out.
And it tapers down.
And my people are just bent to backslide from me,
is what God says.
And the idea is that we, and for this reason,
we need to just constantly be reminding and reminding
and reminding individuals.
Look at what he says, Hebrews 5, 12.
For when the time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again.
You say, pastor, another sermon on Bible reading?
Yeah, we need to hear it again.
Another sermon on tithing?
Yeah, we need to hear it again.
Another sermon on soul winning?
Yeah, we just need to hear it again.
You say, why?
Because people are bent to backslide.
Not everyone.
There are some unusual suspects out there
who is just like, they learn it, they get it,
they got it, it's done.
What to God, we could all be like that.
It's not up for debate.
Look, it would be a great time in your life
when you can get to the place where it's not up for debate.
It's not up for debate what we do on Saturday morning.
And I'm just speaking for my home,
for myself and my wife, it's not up for debate.
I don't know how some people, people, they wake up like,
what do you think we should do today?
There's soul winning, there's hiking, there's the park.
It's not up for debate.
What we do on Wednesday night is not up for debate.
That decision was made a long time ago.
And you say, well, you're the pastor.
Well, I made that decision before we were in ministry.
My wife and I were Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night,
soul winning, tithing, Bible reading every day,
way before we were in ministry.
Just, it would be a great day in your life
if you could get to the place where you would just say,
the Bible says it, I'm going to do it.
It's not up for debate.
I'm going to be in church on Sunday morning,
come hell or high water.
I understand sometimes we get sick
and things that are out of your control,
but some of you get sick a lot.
I mean, I don't understand how you have a job.
I mean, if your consistency to church matched your job,
you'd be fired,
which is why some of you have been fired
from some of the positions you hold here.
And I'm just saying if your kids miss school as much as,
and unfortunately some of you homeschool,
and that is the case, and that makes me very sad,
but if your kids miss school as much as you miss church,
I mean, CPS would be called on you.
And the truth is this,
that the average person lacks character,
lacks integrity.
We can even give you a form that says,
hey, if you're going to be an usher,
hey, if you're going to be an inquirer,
hey, if you're going to do this,
if you're going to do this,
if you're going to do that,
you're going to be on the same team.
These are the things you agreed to.
And even that doesn't last very long.
Even that has to be like, hey, remember you said this?
We wouldn't have to have those conversations
if you had character.
I'm not trying to hurt your feelings.
I'm just preaching to you what the Bible says.
You're the one that wanted more than,
you can't even handle these four verses.
For when 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.
The first principles of the oracles of God,
the oracles of God that is referring to the word of God
or the teachings from the word of God, the Bible.
You say, we just have to teach you again.
Notice what Paul said in the book of Philippians.
If you go back to Philippians chapter 3
towards the beginning of the New Testament,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans,
1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Philippians chapter 3.
I wish it were the case that people just made a decision
and settled it.
Just decide, just decide.
I'm a person that gets up every day and reads the Bible.
And then it's just not up for debate.
I'm going to have a habit of daily Bible reading.
I'm going to have a habit of prayer.
I'm going to be a consistent soul winner.
I'm going to be three to thrive.
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
I'm going to tithe.
That doesn't come up for debate or discussion
every time I get paid.
You think we should?
You think we shouldn't?
Can we afford it?
It's not up for debate.
It's just what we do.
Philippians 3.
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord.
Here's what Paul wrote to the church of Philippians.
He says, to write the same things to you, to me,
indeed, is not grievous, but for you, it is safe.
We have to hear it again.
It's safe.
Why is it safe?
Because my people are bent to backsliding.
That's what God said.
Do me a favor.
Please keep your place right there in Philippians.
You should also have your place in Hosea.
Those are the only places you need to be in.
And go back to Hebrews if you would.
Keep your place in Philippians and Hosea.
Go back to Hebrews chapter 5.
We're learning about spiritual maturity
and we're getting statements from the Word of God,
statements to help us understand what the writer of Hebrews is saying.
And the first statement was this.
Spiritual maturity is expected.
It's expectable.
It's something that should be expected.
Ye ought to be, is what he said.
And then he said, spiritual maturity is reversible.
He said, for when the time ye ought to be teachers,
ye have need that one teach you again,
which be the first principles of the oracle of God.
And again, if you've only been saved for a few weeks
or a few months or you just got baptized not too long ago,
hey, we're not trying to get you to do more
or take on more than you should.
If you're a babe in Christ, there's nothing wrong with that,
but we want you to know there's an expectation to grow.
Slowly but surely, we want to feed you
and get you off the mill onto strong meat.
I said, number one, spiritual maturity is expectable.
Number two, spiritual maturity is reversible.
Reversible.
Some people, some people just get it.
They just get it.
They're special people.
I'll be honest with you.
My wife is one of these people.
I mean, I just, she got saved when she was 17 years old
and I'm just like, the Bible says read the Bible.
She just started reading the Bible.
The Bible says pray.
She started praying.
The Bible says be a soul.
I mean, she literally, some of you, I don't understand.
I mean, she's 17 years old, been saved for two weeks,
started preaching the gospel at the door.
No soul-winning seminar.
No formal soul-winning training
other than just being out with soul winners.
And we have other soul winners who come to church like this.
We give you like every help, everything we can do to try.
And you're just like.
And I just ask the question, where ought ye to be?
Where ought ye to be by now?
With everything you've been given,
with all the help you've been given,
with all the resources that have been handed to you,
where ought ye to be?
So we see that spiritual maturity is expectable
and spiritual maturity is reversible.
And by the way, my wife tricked me into the ministry
because I got her saved and I discipled her
and I thought to myself, wow, this is easy.
I can do this.
I'll be a pastor and do this.
And I found out, oh, no, that's like unique.
Everyone else is like, you're calling and dragging
and you've got to preach every five minutes.
Hey, don't forget.
But you can grow to the place.
You can grow to the place where you're spiritually mature.
So it's expectable.
It's reversible.
Let me give you a third statement.
Spiritual maturity is measurable.
It's measurable.
Look at verse 13.
For everyone that useth milk,
everyone that useth milk is unskilled
from the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
So look, the Bible tells us we can measure spiritual growth
in the same way that we can measure physical growth, right?
Maybe you did this in your home where,
as your children were growing,
there was a doorpost somewhere in your home
and you marked with a pencil
and every six months or every year you'd mark
and you'd measure their growth.
Spiritual growth is something that can be measured.
He says for everyone that useth milk
is unskilled from the word of righteousness,
for he is a babe.
So here's what we know.
If you're on milk, you're a babe.
By the way, spiritual maturity has nothing to do
with how long you've been saved.
Nothing to do with how long you've been saved.
You say, well, then how do we know
if somebody's spiritually mature?
Well, if you're using milk, then you're a babe.
But, verse 14, strong meat belongeth to them
that are of full age.
So he says if you're on the strong meat,
then you're full age.
If you're on the milk, you're a babe.
And of course, he's using a physical analogy here.
A little baby with no teeth and unable to process food
is drinking milk, being nursed.
But eventually, that baby begins to grow and mature.
And don't babies often grow just right off of just milk?
I mean, babies are cute when they're little
and they're fat, right?
They're drinking milk that they may grow their by.
But eventually they grow, they outgrow the milk.
They start developing these little fangs
and they start reaching for the food on the table
and they want more than just milk.
And we begin to slowly, you don't just hand them a steak,
you take whatever, the weirdest combinations,
apple and carrots or something weird,
and you smash it together and give it to them.
And they begin to slowly digest stronger food.
And eventually they start eating meat,
strong meat belonging to them that are full-aged.
Well, the Bible says the same thing.
The Bible says that we can measure.
You say, how can I measure my spiritual growth?
Well, we can measure spiritual growth
by your ability to handle strong meat
versus your ability to handle milk.
You say, well, then how do I know which one is which?
Well, look at Hebrews 5 and look at verse 14.
Let me give you statement number 4
and then we'll kind of combine these thoughts.
Measurable.
Here's statement number 4.
I said number 1, spiritual maturity is expectable.
Number 2, spiritual maturity is reversible.
Number 3, spiritual maturity is measurable.
Here's statement number 4, spiritual maturity is intentional.
It's intentional.
Notice what the Bible says here in Hebrews 5 and verse 14.
But strong meat belonging to them that are full-aged,
even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
The Bible just defined for us what strong meat is.
What is strong meat?
But strong meat, because here's how we like to interpret it.
We like to say, and again, I've used this terminology
and if you've used it, I'm not against you.
I will probably continue to use this terminology
and I'm not attacking anybody who's used it,
but I'm just telling you it's not really correct
within the context of the writing here
because what we usually say is this,
like, oh, the easy doctrines, those are milk.
Salvation, and that's true.
That is actually a true statement.
The easy doctrines are milk.
And then we'll say, but the more difficult doctrines,
you know, understanding Daniel's 70th week
and understanding all the intricacies
of the book of Revelation and these deeper doctrines,
that's the strong meat.
And I understand why we would say that
and I'm not necessarily saying that's wrong,
but that's not what the writer of Hebrews is telling us.
Now, I would say that those types of deeper doctrines
are further along the food chain than milk, yeah.
But what is actually strong meat?
Look at it, verse 14.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age.
Well, how do we know if they're of full age?
Even those who, by reason of use,
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Strong meat is when you have your senses exercised
and you can discern.
The word discern means to judge, to make a judgment call,
to have the knowledge, the understanding
to be able to discern both good and evil.
Go to Matthew chapter 23, Matthew 23.
Okay, what do you mean?
Here's what strong meat is.
When you don't need Pastor Jimenez to tell you,
hey, you know, something's just like obviously wrong.
You understand what I'm saying?
I mean, when I have to get up and tell people like,
hey, skipping church to watch the Super Bowl
is not necessarily something that's honoring to the Lord.
It's not something that makes God happy.
You know, I think to myself,
do I even really have to say this?
But apparently I do, because some people don't get it.
That's milk.
I mean, isn't that basic?
Isn't it basic that God doesn't want you to go to a bar,
that God doesn't want you to go to a casino,
that God doesn't want you to be swimming
and being immodest with members of the opposite sex
that you're not married?
I mean, aren't those things pretty basic?
Do you really need me to tell you that?
But, but, but, but you do, because I do.
So how do you know when somebody's spiritually mature?
When they have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
So they don't walk up to a casino and think, hmm, pastor said,
no, no, they're spiritual enough to look around and think,
I don't think I should be here.
I don't think this is honoring to the Lord.
I don't think God wants me here.
That's strong meat.
You say, well, what about Daniel 70th week?
Well, how is that strong meat?
Somebody still taught you that.
A documentary still spoon fed that to you.
I understand it's more complicated than milk,
so maybe it's mashed up carrots,
but strong meat, strong meat is when you get to the place
where you don't need mom or dad, right?
Isn't that like, let's talk about physically.
Isn't that what we're trying to do?
We have to tell our little baby and one-year-old and two-year-old
and three-year-old and four-year-old and five-year-old,
don't do this.
Don't do that.
That's dangerous for you.
Don't go there.
But what we're trying to do is get them to the place
where there's less and less of us telling them what to do,
and they grow up to the place where they're mature enough to know,
hey, I should be in church.
And they don't just go to church because mom and dad make them go to church.
They go to church because they have grown spiritually enough to have that discernment.
God doesn't want me to, as a young man, to be in the backseat of a car with a young lady by myself.
I don't need pastor to tell me that I've grown enough spiritually to kind of know.
Do you understand what I'm saying to you?
Matthew 23, verse 23, look at it.
Notice what Jesus says.
Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithe of mint and anise in common.
Now, I'm going to offend some of you because some of you act like tithing is the hardest thing in the world.
But Jesus is about to put tithing as milk.
It's easy.
Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithe of mint and anise in common.
I mean, you're really good at tithing.
You tithe even on just the smallest herb.
I mean, you make sure you get the tithing right.
Here's the problem.
And have omitted the weightier matters.
The weightier matters.
What is that?
That's a strong meat.
Here's what he's saying.
There's some things more important than tithing.
The weightier matters a lot.
What are they?
Look at it.
Judgment.
What is that?
Discernment.
Isn't that what Hebrews said?
He said, you have your senses exercised to discern both good and evil?
Judgment.
That's being able to make a judgment call to say, this is right, this is wrong.
This is what God wants.
Judgment.
Mercy.
What is mercy?
Judgment is what is right, what is wrong, who is right, who is wrong.
Mercy is then how we treat people.
Forgiveness, love, love thy neighbor, love thy enemy.
And faith.
What is faith?
Our walk with God.
The just shall live by faith.
Now, Jesus is not saying, don't tithe.
He says, these ought you to have done.
He said, I'm glad you tithed, but do not leave the other undone.
Here's what you need to understand.
And look, this is going to maybe mess some of you up because some of you just think odd things.
But in the Bible, there are do commandments and there are be commandments.
There are some things we're told to do and there are some things we're told to be.
See, making sure your hair is short, men, is biblical.
Making sure your hair is long, ladies, is biblical.
But that's easy.
How easy is it to walk into a barber?
How easy is it to just let your hair grow?
That's the milk of the word.
Tithing, milk of the word, that's easy.
It's not hard to write a check.
Soul winning, that's easy.
The do things are easy.
You know what's hard?
It's the be things.
The kindness.
The loving.
The forgiving.
The love your enemies.
Bless them that curse you.
Do good to them that hate you.
Pray for them which despitefully use you.
That's hard.
When you can do that, you can be assured that you're dealing with a strong meat.
When you can look at a situation and say, I don't want to forgive them,
but I can identify that they've repented biblically and I'm going to forgive them because I love Jesus.
That's the strong of the meat.
Not Daniel's 70th week.
I'm not saying that's not difficult.
I'm just saying that's not what it says.
Your ability to handle the difficult matters of the heart is what determines your spiritual growth.
Your ability to turn the other cheek.
Your ability to esteem others better than yourself.
Your ability to not fight about the smallest, stupidest, most incidental things is what actually shows us,
oh, here's somebody who's spiritually grown.
They've exercised their senses to be able to determine the difference between good and evil.
And by the way, the person who can do that doesn't have to be reminded to read their Bible.
Doesn't have to be guilted into going soul winning.
Doesn't have to be told to show up to, why isn't I in Bible study?
Because when you get to that place in your life, not where you're doing,
we start with the doing, but like milk, we outgrow the doing and we become a being.
See, nobody has to tell me to do soul winning.
You know why?
Because I am a soul winner.
I am a soul winner.
It's who I am.
So if I didn't have a pastor telling me if I was gone on some trip somewhere,
I wouldn't think, well, I don't have to, I don't have to go to, nobody has to tell me to go to church.
Do you understand that?
I'm a church goer.
There was a time in my life where people were telling me, do, do, do, but now I am.
I'm a bee.
I pray the Holy Spirit is helping you understand this.
I don't know if he is or not.
Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with how many YouTube videos you watched.
It has everything to do with who you are spiritually.
And when you are a Bible reader, you sit back and think, pastor is preaching on Bible reading.
This is an amen sermon because I got this covered.
When you are a prayer warrior, when you are someone that forgives, that loves, that is kind,
that has some emotional intelligence, that understands, well, that person, they're being rude to me right now,
but look at where they are in life and look at what God has forgiven me
and I'm just going to love them anyway and I'm just going to care for them anyway
and I'm just going to judge them righteously and be merciful and have faith.
I mean that's mature Christianity and it's rare
because we spend so much of our time trying to just get you to do the things that you need to do
and you forget so quickly the things you need to do that we almost never get to just be who you need to be
because if you were who you needed to be, ushers, you wouldn't leave the service
in the middle of the preaching to go get snacks at Dollar General.
Now you need me to say that because why would I have to say that?
I don't know, but I have to say it.
Why do I have to say it? I have no idea why I have to say that.
But see, I wouldn't leave church because I love God and I like church.
And the answer to the question is we just got to get you to stop doing and trying to do and do and get away
and maybe you didn't see it and they got cameras everywhere and start just being,
being someone that loves God, being someone that wants to give the right example,
being someone that cares for souls.
See, when you care for souls and you don't want people to die and go to hell,
I'm not looking for reasons to get out of soul winning because I am a soul winner.
And I don't know if you understand that. I don't know if you'll ever understand it.
But that's spiritual maturity.
So spiritual maturity is expectable.
Spiritual maturity is reversible.
Spiritual maturity is measurable.
And then, like I said, spiritual maturity is intentional.
So how do we get there? Well, look at it. He tells us, Hebrews 5, look at verse 14.
But strong meat.
Now we know what that is.
Sorry, it's not the antichrist and the mark of the beast.
That's actually pretty easy.
It's not that hard to read the book of Revelation and be like, oh yeah, mark of the beast.
You know what's hard? It's praying every day.
You know what's hard? It's forgiving people and loving people and being there for people.
And having the right judgment and the right discernment.
I'm shocked sometimes by the advice. People tell me, I got all this advice from all these church people.
And I'm like, why?
Why are they saying that?
But I think to myself, it's because there's no discernment.
So how do we get there? Look at verse 14.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use.
Reason of use.
Use what? The Bible.
When you use the Bible.
I mean, some of you think that we show up, I show up and say, nine chapters a day.
And you think like, well, if I did it, then I've arrived. I'm just a mature Christian.
Hey, we want you to read the Bible.
But reading the Bible is not an end in itself.
We are trying to get you to read the Bible.
I am going to try to preach sermon. I'm going to try to guilt you into reading the Bible.
You say, you shouldn't guilt us.
Look, people guilted you into doing all sorts of stupid things.
That's why you've got tattoos and all those dumb things you've done in your life.
Yeah, I'm going to try to peer pressure you to do something good.
I don't care why you show up soul-winding.
If you show up because I'm guilting you in it or I made you sign a form that says you do it, I don't care.
But I'm hoping we make you and guilt you and motivate you long enough to do it, do it, do it, that then you become it.
By reason of use.
2 Peter 3.18.
Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 2 Peter 3.18.
But grow in grace, notice, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now the Bible says that knowledge puppeth up.
So the purpose is not knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Because when we get knowledge for the sake of knowledge, we become arrogant, we become prideful, we look down on others.
And all of that proves you're not mature.
There's a divine order here. Grow in grace and in the knowledge.
Go back to Hosea chapter 4, look at verse 1.
Hosea chapter 4, if you kept your place in Hosea.
Hosea chapter 4, verse 1.
Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel.
For the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
Hebrews 4, verse 1.
Because there is no truth, notice these words, no mercy nor knowledge of God in the land.
Notice how those things go together.
Grow in grace and in the knowledge.
He says there is no mercy and there is no knowledge.
The first step to spiritual growth is information.
You need the information.
You need to just know what the Bible says.
Look at Hebrews 4, verse 6.
But my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.
Because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee,
that thou shalt be no priest to me,
seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God,
I will also forget thy children.
The first step is information.
That's why we preach through the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter.
That's why we preach on Bible reading.
That's why we want you to read.
I want you to read.
Nine chapters a day.
God wants you to read.
Nine chapters a day.
It's not going to hurt you to read.
Nine chapters a day.
You say, why?
Because step one is information.
We just need to get you the information from the Bible.
You need to know what the Bible says about, fill in the blank,
whatever thing you're dealing with,
you just need to know what the Bible says about that.
But that's not enough.
There's information.
And then there's application.
Look at Hebrews 4, verse 12.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age,
even those who by reason of use
even those who by reason of
You understand what I'm saying?
Even those who by, oh, I got out of bed.
Even those who by reason of use.
That's the first step.
This book can't help you if you don't know what it says.
This book can't help your marriage
if you don't know what it says about marriage.
This book can't help.
This Bible has the answer to everything you need.
Every area of life.
I don't care about your finances.
I don't care about your health.
I don't care about your career.
I don't care if it's your relationship.
I don't care what it is.
This Bible tells you how to succeed in life.
Jesus said that we might have life
and that we might have it more abundantly.
So we begin with the reason of use,
which is why you show up all night and we preach to the Bible.
You show up on Sunday morning and we preach to the Bible.
You show up on Sunday night and we preach to the Bible.
Why? Because you just need to use this thing.
You need to use it and know it
and understand it and know what the Bible says.
Here's what the Bible says about this subject.
Here's what the Bible says about that subject.
But please understand something.
Simply knowing what the Bible says is not enough.
It's reason of use have their senses exercised.
Having weights in a closet somewhere doesn't do anything.
I bought them. I researched them.
I read all the reviews on Amazon.
I mean, right?
Twelve months ago, last year, about this time,
some of you went out and bought a treadmill,
bought this, bought that.
It didn't help you get skinny.
It's not going to run on itself.
You understand what I'm saying?
By reason of use have their senses exercised
to discern both good and evil.
That's spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity is what it's like.
Pastor, I'm asking you what you think,
but I already know what the Bible,
I already know what God wants.
Now, here's the thing.
Most of you already know what God wants.
So the problem is not your knowledge.
Not if you're a member of a very Baptist church.
You know.
So you just don't do it.
Let me give you one last passage.
Go to 2 Timothy, chapter 3.
2 Timothy 3.
If you go backwards from Hebrews,
you have Philemon, Titus, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, chapter 3.
2 Timothy 3 16.
Next to 2 Timothy 3 16
you could write this word,
information.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction,
for instruction in righteousness.
You could write next to 2 Timothy 3 16,
information,
But that's not enough.
17, you need to write this word, application,
that the man of God may be perfect.
The word perfect means complete, whole, mature,
fully grow, that the man of God
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished.
That means equipped unto all good works.
Spiritual maturity is determined by your ability
to handle the weightier matters of the law.
Because when you start being who you're supposed to be,
we don't have to worry about you doing
what you're supposed to do.
Let me just say this.
Your spiritual growth is measured
by your likeness to Christ.
Being conformed into the image of His Son.
See, we start with all these things
that we want you to do.
We want you to do these things.
We want you to be faithful at church.
We want you to read the Bible.
We want you to pray.
We want you to be a soul winner.
We want you to tithe.
We want you to give.
We want you to get involved and serve.
We want you to do all these things.
But we're hoping that as you get familiar
with the word of God and it begins to change you
and you begin to apply it and actually use it,
you become a different person.
And we go from doing to being.
And here's the point.
Information spiritually.
Information plus application equals transformation.
And be not conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
And that's when the ministry gets fun.
That's when discipleship gets fun.
Because we stop bickering about all these stupid things.
And we start trying to be conformed
under the image of a son, which is the goal.
See, the goal is not for me
to try to do a checklist of things.
The goal is for me to try to be
like my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And the measure of spirituality,
it's measured in your likeness to Christ.
By the way, the greatness of a church
is not measured by its size.
It's not measured by its building.
It's not measured by the attendance.
It's measured by its likeness to Christ.
That we may be conformed unto the image of a son.
Go back to the book of Hebrews if you would.
Hebrews chapter four, just look at this one verse
and we'll be done.
Hebrews chapter four, look at verse number 12.
There's a supernatural work that the Word of God can do.
For the Word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents
of the heart.
My goal as a pastor is for you to get saved
and for us to feed you milk long enough
for you to begin to know what the Bible says,
do what the Bible says,
and when the Bible gets in your heart,
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,
when the Bible begins to influence the intentions
of your heart, you've spiritually matured.
That's spiritual maturity.
So I ask you again, where ought ye to be?
That's the question.
Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray for our church.
Lord, you know that I want us to grow physically.
You know that we need to grow financially.
Lord, what I want and what I know you want
is that we would grow spiritually,
that we would stop doing and that we would start being.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to wrestle this question.
Where are you to be?
And help us to realize that none of us
are where we should be.
But help us not to be backsliding.
Help us not to be reversing, going backwards.
Help us to be using the word of God,
reading it, knowing it, understanding it,
applying it in our lives and allowing it to transform us.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray, amen.
Let me give you a couple announcements real quickly.
First of all, let me just announce,
I don't know if you heard about this,
we have nine chapters a day coming up.
And I hope that you'll make a decision
to read the Bible, to read the Bible.
Get into the Bible, use it, use it.
And we'll give you charts,
we'll put your name on a plaque.
We're all gonna do it.
It's gonna be fun.
We want you to read the Bible.
The only way that it can help you is if you read it.
So I hope you'll make the decision this January
to read the Bible, nine chapters a day,
every day in the month of January.
You'll be glad you did.
And just a couple of quick reminders.
Don't forget that we have the Workday signups
in the foyer, in the clipboards back there.
If you could help us with mudding and texturing,
we'd appreciate your help with that.
Please go by there and sign up
and help us with that this week.
And then don't forget that we also have
the Christmas cookies and hot chocolate signup,
the clipboard back there as well.
That's this Sunday.
So if you can help us with that, that would be great.
And then of course this Sunday is the 24th.
So just be aware of the scheduled 10 30 a.m. service.
The children's choir will be singing in the morning.
No soul winning at 2 p.m., 4 p.m.
We'll have the hot chocolate
and Christmas cookies fellowship
and 5 p.m. is the Christmas Eve service.
So just make sure you're aware of that.
And I wanna encourage you to invite somebody.
Bring somebody with you
and we'll have some great services in the morning.
We're gonna be talking about the angels
and learning about the angels
as the characters in the Christmas story.
And then in the evening,
we'll look at the greatest character
of the Christmas story.
Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I wanna encourage you, of course,
to be with us for that.
If there's anything we can do for you,
please let us know.
We'll have Moses come up and lead us in a final song.
Please enter songbooks page number 426.
Page number 426.
We're gonna sing I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,
page 426.
Let's sing it out on the first.
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men
On the second, I thought how as the day had come
He belled the breeze of all Christendom
Had rolled along the broken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
And in despair I bowed my head
There is no peace on earth, I said
For age is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men
On the fourth, then feel the bells more loud and deep
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men
Let's finish it on the last.
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day
A voice, a chime, a chance, a find
Of peace on earth, good will to men
Great singing.
Can I please have Brother Darryl
close us in a word of prayer?
Thank you very much.