Past Elementary School!!
Reflection: The writers of Hebrews offers this challenge to the young Jewish Church,
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace
Notice he is admonishing the people of the church to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity. What might these elementary teachings be? Well we've seen in Hebrews what they are. The book of Hebrews is like a catechetical sermon instructing the believers. It starts with what Jesus, the unique Son of God has done for us, as our merciful high priest. Though he was human in every way, he did not sin. Therefore, he was able to make the perfect sacrifice for us on the cross, dying in our place. This is the primary purpose of the Word of God to lead us to salvation through Christ alone, based upon what he did on the cross.
But once someone is baptized, believes and has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, how do they go on to become a mature Christian? As Paul says in Colossians 1:28 and in Ephesians 4, we would become perfect and complete and lacking in nothing. Simply put once one is saved by grace the rest of your life is spent growing to maturity in what it means to live out your calling in the world. We call this "sanctification".
And we see the author of Hebrews gives a pretty stern warning to those once they have tasted this heavenly gift and then who return to their former way of life. He says it is impossible for those who have done this to be brought back to repentance. Now of course nothing is impossible for God, so we have to interpret this in light of all of the scriptural teaching of God who began a good work in us being faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6 But nonetheless it is warning I think is good for the church to remember today.
Lots of churches don't actually have a plan to move believers beyond the elementary teachings of Christ to maturity in Christ. This is where those with the gift of pastoring and teaching need to step up and start discipling immature believers in the body of Christ. Indeed the gift of teaching is the gift that Jesus speaks about in the Great Commission when he says, "And teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you, and I will be with you until the end of the age."
The word "teaching" is an active, imperative, participle. Meaning, it is not an option! Jesus never saw any growth or fulfillment of the Great Commission without teaching what it means to live discipleship in daily life. This requires the commitment of both the student to actively learn, and the teacher to set out a sound course of instruction. This is a high investment on the part of both.
I believe this word for us is very important for churches and their pastors to consider, as we reclaim our calling in the church and the Great Commission our Lord gave us. And as we go about it I believe The Lord will continue to add to our number those who are being saved by His grace. But we have to ask ourselves if we are really not committed to this why would God send people to our churches?
My prayer for us is that we would go on to maturity in Christ and become all God wants us to be for this generation!!
Psalm 107:33-43
33 He turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
and he did not let their herds diminish.
39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
but all the wicked shut their mouths.
43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
Jeremiah 51:24-64
24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25 “I am against you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.
29 The land trembles and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand—
to lay waste the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
the bars of her gates are broken.
31 One courier follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers terrified.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us,
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed us out.
35 May the violence done to our flesh be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause
and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38 Her people all roar like young lions,
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41 “How Sheshak will be captured,
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate Babylon will be
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.
44 I will punish Bel in Babylon
and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out of her, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
Hebrews 6:1-12
6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
God says, "I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily." Hosea 14:5
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Luke 12:27
Providing God, grant us the faith to trust in you providence. If you care for the simplest parts of creation, how much more do you care for us whom you created in your own image? May we cease to worry and put our trust in you. Amen.
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace
Notice he is admonishing the people of the church to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity. What might these elementary teachings be? Well we've seen in Hebrews what they are. The book of Hebrews is like a catechetical sermon instructing the believers. It starts with what Jesus, the unique Son of God has done for us, as our merciful high priest. Though he was human in every way, he did not sin. Therefore, he was able to make the perfect sacrifice for us on the cross, dying in our place. This is the primary purpose of the Word of God to lead us to salvation through Christ alone, based upon what he did on the cross.
But once someone is baptized, believes and has received the gift of the Holy Spirit, how do they go on to become a mature Christian? As Paul says in Colossians 1:28 and in Ephesians 4, we would become perfect and complete and lacking in nothing. Simply put once one is saved by grace the rest of your life is spent growing to maturity in what it means to live out your calling in the world. We call this "sanctification".
And we see the author of Hebrews gives a pretty stern warning to those once they have tasted this heavenly gift and then who return to their former way of life. He says it is impossible for those who have done this to be brought back to repentance. Now of course nothing is impossible for God, so we have to interpret this in light of all of the scriptural teaching of God who began a good work in us being faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6 But nonetheless it is warning I think is good for the church to remember today.
Lots of churches don't actually have a plan to move believers beyond the elementary teachings of Christ to maturity in Christ. This is where those with the gift of pastoring and teaching need to step up and start discipling immature believers in the body of Christ. Indeed the gift of teaching is the gift that Jesus speaks about in the Great Commission when he says, "And teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you, and I will be with you until the end of the age."
The word "teaching" is an active, imperative, participle. Meaning, it is not an option! Jesus never saw any growth or fulfillment of the Great Commission without teaching what it means to live discipleship in daily life. This requires the commitment of both the student to actively learn, and the teacher to set out a sound course of instruction. This is a high investment on the part of both.
I believe this word for us is very important for churches and their pastors to consider, as we reclaim our calling in the church and the Great Commission our Lord gave us. And as we go about it I believe The Lord will continue to add to our number those who are being saved by His grace. But we have to ask ourselves if we are really not committed to this why would God send people to our churches?
My prayer for us is that we would go on to maturity in Christ and become all God wants us to be for this generation!!
Psalm 107:33-43
33 He turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
and he did not let their herds diminish.
39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
but all the wicked shut their mouths.
43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
Jeremiah 51:24-64
24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.
25 “I am against you, you destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”
declares the Lord.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26 No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate forever,”
declares the Lord.
27 “Lift up a banner in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28 Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.
29 The land trembles and writhes,
for the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand—
to lay waste the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.
30 Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become weaklings.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
the bars of her gates are broken.
31 One courier follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,
32 the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers terrified.”
33 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us,
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed us out.
35 May the violence done to our flesh be on Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.
36 Therefore this is what the Lord says:
“See, I will defend your cause
and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs dry.
37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38 Her people all roar like young lions,
they growl like lion cubs.
39 But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the Lord.
40 “I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41 “How Sheshak will be captured,
the boast of the whole earth seized!
How desolate Babylon will be
among the nations!
42 The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves will cover her.
43 Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no one travels.
44 I will punish Bel in Babylon
and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall of Babylon will fall.
45 “Come out of her, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the Lord.
46 Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
Hebrews 6:1-12
6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
God says, "I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily." Hosea 14:5
Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Luke 12:27
Providing God, grant us the faith to trust in you providence. If you care for the simplest parts of creation, how much more do you care for us whom you created in your own image? May we cease to worry and put our trust in you. Amen.
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