Lord, take these words that we will read
out of your Bible, your word this morning,
make them living words.
O Holy Spirit of God, you know each
and everyone who is in this auditorium this
morning.
And you know that you have brought us
together here to hear your word.
Please prepare our hearts so that we may
receive your word.
Be in our midst, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
I would like to share this morning some
thoughts with you concerning the first six chapters
of Hebrews.
The letter to the Hebrews where some say
it's more than a letter, it's really a
sermon in itself addressed to the Jewish Christians.
But before we do that, I would like
to relate a little story to you.
Because it's my prayer that this morning we
will really see and taste like the psalmist
says the Lord Jesus Christ.
Once Professor Paul Tillich on a tour in
America addressed some people, pastors and students and
lay people who came to hear him.
He's a theologian and it happened at a
university and there were quite a few people
there who came to hear this most famous
professor speak.
And he was speaking on the humanity of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he was telling those who were there
why he had certain problems with the Lord
Jesus being the Son of God and him
being born from a virgin.
Right in the back of the auditorium sat
a pastor, an oldish man.
And whilst he was listening to the professor
he was munching away on an apple.
And after some time the professor had finished
speaking, there was time for questions or comments
and he stood up.
And he was busy eating his apple.
And he said, Professor I'd like to ask
you a question.
He held up his apple and he said,
Professor what is this in my hand?
And he answered and said, It looks like
an apple.
And he said, Professor what does this apple
taste like?
Is it sweet?
Is it sour?
Professor said, Well, sir I can't tell because
I haven't tasted that apple in your hand.
And the old pastor said, Professor that's right.
Why is it that you haven't tasted my
Jesus?
After listening to you it's clear that you
haven't tasted my Jesus as well.
Why is it that you haven't tasted my
Jesus
as well?
It's because of the Lord Jesus that indeed
we will see and we will taste and
we will experience the Lord Jesus as the
Son of God.
The letter to the Hebrews were written to
the Jewish Christians to tell them how the
Lord Jesus is superior to anything and anyone
in the current world.
It was written before the fall of Jerusalem
in the year 70 after Christ.
And those of you who are knowledgeable about
the letter to the Hebrews will know that
it speaks about the high priests and the
priests and the sacrifices and the rituals and
all of that.
It was a time in which the Pharisees
and the Sadducees and the Essenes were the
religious parties of the time.
And the high priest, the chairman of the
Sanhedrin, the Jewish council was also chosen from
the Sadducees, always chosen from the Sadducees.
They were two very well known rabbis of
that time.
Gamaliel and Eliel were the two rabbis of
that time.
And the Pharisees, for example, had within Judaism
more than 600 laws that were required to
be kept by those who believed or the
believers of that time.
And then there was the time where the
Greeks were the pantheon of gods.
And the Romans were the emperor worship.
And it was a time in which the
Christians, the Jewish Christians, were persecuted.
They were persecuted by the Jews, they were
persecuted by the Greco-Romans, they were persecuted
for their faith.
And Judaism wasn't a second-rate religion in
that time.
Coming out of the Old Testament, it was
divinely revealed, for that time it was the
best religion.
The prophets spoke much about how God should
be worshipped.
But then Christ came and He fulfilled everything
that was prophesied from the Old Testament through
Judaism.
He fulfilled the law, He fulfilled the prophets,
He came and He was just something so
special out of the hands of God.
And this message of Christ, the Redeemer, the
Son of God, was very difficult for the
Jews to accept.
They expected the Messiah to come for many
centuries, but when Jesus came, it was difficult
to accept Him as the Messiah, and they
were entrenched in their traditions and their way
of worship.
And when Jesus came
and
He freely gave forgiveness for sins, and He
freely provided eternal life, it is as if
He stood against what they have always believed,
and it was very difficult for them to
accept this Jesus proclaiming to be the Son
of God.
And it would seem from the book of
Hebrews, that those who accepted Jesus Christ, find
them very often sliding back into the religious
practices and traditions of Judaism.
So the author of Hebrews has written this
letter to comfort these Christians and to encourage
them to remain true to Christ.
He
told them Christianity is
superior, Christ is supreme, and completely sufficient for
salvation.
So there are certain high moments in this
book.
Hebrews begin in the first three verses by
emphasizing that the Old as well as the
New, the Old Testament as well as the
New Testament is a revelation from God.
The author shows that Jesus is superior to
angels.
Chapter three, that Jesus is superior to their
leaders.
Chapter
four and
further, that He is superior to the priesthood.
Christianity has a better covenant.
Chapter eight, Chapter nine, a
better sanctuary.
Chapter nine and ten, a better and more
sufficient sacrifice in Jesus Christ.
I think for yourself, these people have been
in Judaism for centuries and now they have
to hear that Christ is greater than Moses.
Christ is greater than the Old Testament priesthood.
They have come with the Old Covenant and
now they hear that the New Covenant in
Jesus is superior and has replaced the Old
Covenant.
The high priest, the priesthood, the sacrifices are
no longer valid and no longer needed.
Christ Jesus alone can forgive sins.
The high priest who always went into the
holy of the holies is no longer necessary.
Jesus Christ Himself guarantees our access to God
the Father.
Now the author is writing to these Christians
and he wants to strengthen them and warn
them and encourage them to remain true to
Christ.
And so this morning we would like to
look at the question, what is a mature
Christian?
Now the author writes in chapter two verse
one these words, We must pay more careful
attention therefore to what we have heard so
that we do not drift away.
He starts off by taking them back to
what they have heard of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the beginning when they came to
Christ.
There was a time in each one of
our lives in which we were babes in
Christ.
Those days of beginning when we say Lord
I want to commit myself to you, I
want you to live in my heart.
And the author of Hebrews comes with a
softness to his people and he says, Remember
the first words that you heard.
Indeed he says it is so important to
remember those first moments that you committed yourself
to Christ because that would keep you from
drifting away from Christ.
Those first moments when you were touched by
the Lord Jesus Christ, that excitement that you
remember, the moment that you received salvation and
it was so vivid and so clear to
you, remember that day.
And he says that the Lord himself in
verse three, This salvation which was first announced
by the Lord was confirmed to us by
those who heard him.
He says the Lord himself gave that salvation.
He says don't forget that.
Then he speaks about a few things and
then in chapter three verse one, again he
says these words.
And he reminds them of a very very
important aspect of the Christian life.
Therefore holy brothers who share in the heavenly
calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus the apostle
and high priest whom we confess.
He says to them, you who have heard
this heavenly call from God, we are all
brothers and sisters in Christ.
And now that you've remembered the beginnings, fix
your thoughts on Jesus Christ who is superior
even above Moses which is written a little
bit further in chapter three.
And this verse would have been very important
to those Jewish Christians because for them the
highest human being in their existence was the
high priest.
He was the highest human authority and now
the author comes and says to them, even
higher than that is Jesus Christ.
Fix your thoughts on Jesus Christ, the one
who remained true to the one who sent
him.
Now he's reminded them about the beginnings and
he's reminded them to fix their thoughts on
Jesus Christ.
So some of the Hebrews who received this
letter, who heard this letter being read to
them might have been just on the verge
of getting back into Judaism.
They might have been in the process of
losing this eternal rest in Christ.
Now in chapter four verse one, he starts
a new argument.
Because some of these Christians might have thought
that Jesus Christ has not returned.
They expected a quick return and because he
has not returned they could go back to
Judaism that Christianity was perhaps not true.
And he says to them, therefore since the
promise of entering his rest still stands, let
us be careful that none of you be
found to have fallen short of it.
In the words of the theme of the
youth conference, he says to them, this is
yet the time to still come to Christ
Jesus.
And he says in verse two, for we
also have had the gospel preached to us
just as they did, but the message they
heard was of no value to them, those
who have lost the rest.
Because those who have heard did not combine
it with faith.
This illustrates a problem for that time which
is a problem evident in our churches today
as well.
Many people have the knowledge about Jesus Christ.
Many people can tell you about the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Children go to Sunday school.
Grown ups go to Sunday school perhaps.
We sit and we listen to services and
sermons concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
But this knowledge of Christ is never combined
with faith in Jesus Christ.
And in chapter four the author says that
knowledge in itself is good, but it is
not enough.
You have to have faith, personal faith in
Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
After he has discussed these things in the
first five chapters, we come to the text
for this morning in chapter six, verse one.
To the author of Hebrews, all that he
has said in the first five chapters, to
him belongs to the beginning of becoming a
Christian.
Chapter six, verse one.
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about
Christ and go on to maturity, not laying
again the foundation of repentance from acts that
lead to death.
And of faith in God, instruction about baptism,
the laying on of hands, the resurrection of
the dead and eternal judgment, and God permitting,
we will do so.
He says that these things are things which
we had to learn in the beginning.
In some translations it speaks about the doctrine
of faith, or the doctrine of the Christian
faith.
The author here uses the Greek word logos,
in other words, the words of faith.
He speaks of this as those things that
every Christian needs to know.
He speaks about the doctrine of Christian faith,
and he says that these things, this knowledge,
yes it's vital, but there is more to
Christian faith than just the knowledge of these
great learnings of the Christian faith.
And he says to the Hebrews, let's go
beyond these things.
He says, let's leave these beginnings, these elementary
teachings about Christ and go on to maturity.
And it's this word maturity that caught my
eye.
And I asked myself, what is meant by
this word maturity?
Can we learn from this discourse between the
author and his hearers, can we learn something
which is to us important in our Christian
life for this day, concerning maturity in being
a Christian?
Now one way at looking at maturity, or
to evaluate spiritual maturity in our lives, is
to look at the choices that we make
as Christians.
And the author of Hebrews notes various ways
in which our life as a Christian can
be matured in the way that we make
choices.
And the way that we present ourselves spiritually
shows many times the spiritual level or the
spiritual growth towards maturity in our lives.
So I'd like to highlight for you this
morning nine such cases out of the book
of Hebrews that we could use to evaluate
our own spiritual maturity.
Where you make certain choices on the basis
of your knowledge and your relationship with Jesus
Christ, which shows that you can make mature
choices in your life.
Now the book of Hebrews has only got
thirteen chapters.
So you can take this book in the
week or days to come and read through
it yourself and get out of it the
richness of what is being said.
I'm sure you can preach for a whole
year only on the book of Hebrews.
The first point is that a mature Christian
chooses to teach others rather to being taught
the whole time of his life.
Surely in a Christian's life there come a
time when you are mature enough to start
teaching others about Christ.
Surely there must be a time in your
life where the Christian faith has become so
part of you and the Lord Jesus Christ
has become so part of you that you
can start leading others to Christ and not
always being led yourself.
Surely in the life of a mature Christian
there must come a time where you can
sit down with somebody and counsel that person
in the ways of Christ.
You can't stay a baby in the face
all of your life.
How would it be if you send your
child to school in grade R and by
the time of grade 12 it's still a
grade R child?
The purpose of education is to take a
child of 6 years and over an extended
period of time educate and mold that child
into a mature young person.
A young
person
who can take responsible decisions and to be
accountable for those decisions that this person takes.
So also with a mature Christian there comes
a time when you must be able to
in a mature way relate the Christian faith
to others and lead them to Christ.
Sharing the gospel, teaching the gospel so that
others may become mature as well.
A mature Christian has developed depth of understanding
of the Christian faith.
In other words there is insight in what
Christ Jesus has come to do.
There is an understanding of the will of
God for an individual's life.
There is an understanding and an insight in
what God wills for the individual, for the
community, for the nation, for the Christian faith.
And the author of Hebrews says to the
Christians, stop struggling with the basics of the
Christian faith.
Go beyond where understanding is the norm rather
than just the basic words, the logos, the
words that you have heard.
So the mature Christian can make choices on
the basis of understanding the will of God.
The will of God as it is revealed
in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The third point, a mature Christian can evaluate
himself or herself in the light of scripture
rather than just criticizing himself or herself.
Self-criticism is always done in relation between
you and the next person.
Self-criticism where as mature Christian evaluation is
where you evaluate yourself in the light of
Jesus Christ and his word.
So a mature Christian won't criticize himself or
herself in the light of other Christians but
will deliberately by choice evaluate him or herself
in the light of Christ and his word.
In the fourth place, a mature Christian will
deliberately choose to seek unity and not to
seek disunity.
Many places in the Bible we are called
upon to be one in Christ Jesus.
Indeed we can only be one in Christ
Jesus.
And a mature Christian will seek that unity
to be one in Christ with all around
him rather than promote disunity based on differences.
Now here is another point which is quite
interesting.
A mature Christian would desire spiritual challenges rather
than desiring entertainment.
Is it not true if you look
at
the world or at worldly Christians or at
nominal Christians that they'd rather seek entertainment than
seek spiritual challenges like sharing the gospel, like
being a missionary, like preaching the gospel, like
changing your world?
It's easy to promote disunity.
It's a challenge to promote unity.
It's easy to fall into self-criticism.
It's a spiritual challenge to evaluate oneself in
the light of scripture.
It's easy to stay with the basics.
It's a spiritual challenge to develop understanding and
insights about God's will for ourselves.
It's easy to go with the trend but
it's a spiritual challenge for a Christian to
stand and to be able to stand when
there's persecution because of one's faith.
A
next
point.
A spiritual mature Christian will study carefully the
Bible and observe carefully the lives of others
who proclaim to be Christians rather than following
opinions of people and half-hearted efforts to
realize the word of the Lord in their
lives.
Let's put it in other words.
A mature Christian would want to sit at
the feet of Rabbi Jesus rather than to
talk with the friends about the trivial things
of this world.
But rather sit with other Christians and speak
about their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ
and what God has told them and revealed
to them and being taught in that manner
than to go out with the friends into
this world and experience the light entertainment of
this world.
The
seventh point.
A mature Christian has active faith rather than
doubt or cautiousness concerning the Christian faith.
Mature Christians do
things.
In other words, they live their faith in
Jesus Christ.
They are bold in the proclamation that Jesus
is the Christ.
They don't hesitate to testify that Jesus is
their Lord and their Saviour.
They can tell you about the walk with
Jesus.
Just think about Paul when he confessed about
all the things that happened to him.
But each and every time he says, it's
the grace of God, he could testify to
Christ working in his life and being with
him.
In the eighth place, a mature Christian has
confidence rather than fear for this world.
Yes, confidence because it's no longer I but
Christ in me.
That is the norm.
He has confidence because he knows the victor.
He knows the one who has overcome this
world.
He knows the one who sits on the
right hand side of God.
He has confidence because he has saving knowledge
rather than just knowledge about Christ.
He knows Christ personally in a very intimate
way.
The mature Christian has confidence and don't go
around being fearful of each little thing that
happens in his life.
He has confidence because he has Christian hope.
He is not hopeless.
Lastly, a mature Christian would be able by
choice to evaluate his feelings and experiences in
the light of Christ's word.
A mature Christian will evaluate his experiences in
the light of his own feelings.
In the light of his
own opinion.
In the light of his own knowledge.
But the mature Christian would immediately run to
God to evaluate his experiences and his feelings
to see if it's in line with what
God wants.
Now friends, if
you
take these nine principles, if you can, remember
them.
If you take these nine principles and you
evaluate yourself, whether you are spiritual mature or
still a spiritual babe, then you can come
to some answer for your own life.
And the author of Hebrews says to the
Jewish Christians, don't remain with those things that
you've heard in the beginning, but go beyond.
Get understanding because then you will be able
to withstand the persecution that's coming your way.
And encourage them to remain true to the
faith.
Now it takes time to become a mature
Christian.
That is true.
But it's also true that daily commitment to
Christ and daily service to Christ and the
brethren will bring maturity over time.
And a mature Christian won't be swayed by
the fashions of this world.
And a mature Christian won't be shaken by
the temptations of this world.
But it's important to realize if you trust
Jesus Christ for your complete salvation, he will
work it in you.
And he will complete this process of transformation
from a babe to a mature person, from
a babe in Christianity to a mature Christian,
he will work it in you.
But what does the author says to the
Christians, the Hebrew Christians, he says to them,
you may have to commit yourself and you
have to obey Jesus Christ in everything.
Because a mature Christian lives a life of
obedience to Christ and a life of complete
trust in Christ Jesus.
And he
says
to his fellow Christians, he says, you can
have complete victory in your life if you
don't give up Christ Jesus.
Because that was the danger with the Hebrew
Christians, that they would give up Christ and
return back to Judaism.
Now friends, it's for us to take these
words and to take this truth about Jesus
Christ and to go to him and ask
him to realize this maturity in our lives.
Because all of us here need to become
mature Christians in Christ.
Boldly and actively being busy with serving Christ
and the others and proclaiming his gospel of
salvation.
Because in the latter part of Hebrews, from
chapter 10 onwards, he speaks to these Christians
which he has now encouraged and he warns
them about the consequences of rejecting Christ.
In the same letter, chapter 10 further,
because
the readers are exhorted to hold onto this
new faith, to help one another, to encourage
one another, to stay one.
And important to look forward to the coming
of Christ.
They are told that there are just two
kinds of people in this world.
The saved and the unsaved.
Those who reject Jesus Christ will go lost.
And if these Christians, these Jewish Christians return
to the Jewish faith, Judaism, they will go
lost because of the choice that they have
made.
One of the greatest chapters of Hebrews is
Hebrews 11.
In chapter 11, the author uses examples from
the Old Testament to show people, the people
of his time, how to endure in the
faith.
He uses examples and people from the history
of Israel.
And he shows them how to live daily
a committed life to Christ.
Spiritual heroes, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David,
and others.
And he says, look at them, but look
beyond.
What was possible for them is possible for
you.
So it's important for us to realize today
that whatever we consider important in our lives,
whatever we consider as the
focus of our lives, Christ Jesus is
better.
He is far greater than any focus we
might have other than Him.
He was a perfect revelation from God.
He was the final and complete sacrifice for
sin.
He is also the one who has compassion
and mercy and grace for each one of
us.
So we have shared many thoughts out of
the book of Hebrews this morning.
The most important is that Christ Jesus is
greater than anything in this world that we
can know.
He is the Son of God.
He is the Lord of Lords.
The King of Kings.
He is the greatest.
There is no other religion that can offer
you that.
There is no other religion that can offer
salvation that is only possible in Jesus Christ.
And the author of Hebrews painfully, carefully showed
it to his listeners.
And then we have shared some thoughts on
the maturity of a Christian.
What makes a Christian mature?
Allow me to just mention the nine characteristics
of a mature Christian to you once again.
One, a mature Christian teaches others about Christ
Jesus and the Christian faith.
Two, a mature Christian has depth of understanding
of God's will.
Three, a mature Christian in the third
place will evaluate himself or herself in the
light of the revealed Christ Jesus.
Four, a
mature Christian would seek unity rather than disunity.
Always seeking unity.
In the fifth place, a mature Christian always
desire spiritual challenges rather than the mere entertainment
the world can offer.
Sixthly, a mature Christian would carefully study the
Bible and observe the teachings concerning Christ.
In the seventh place, a mature Christian is
seen by the active faith that he has.
In the eighth place, a mature Christian is
confident rather than run around fearfully in this
world.
In the ninth place, feelings and experiences are
evaluated in the light of God's word.
As the old preacher said, the story that
I've told you may be that we taste
Christ in his greatness this morning.
May it be that the sweetness of a
choice to follow Christ is evident in our
lives this morning and not the bitterness of
rejection.
Indeed, may
it be that we experience this morning as
we sit here the saving grace and the
saving salvation that Christ has offered each one
of us this day.
The choir is not going to sing.
Some of them have gone out.
So we will just pray then and end
the service.
Let us pray.
We thank you for your precious word, O
Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you for this voice coming to
us over a period of two thousand years
and strengthening us this morning to remain true
to you, our Lord.
Exhorting us not to remain with the first
things that we heard about you and the
faith, but that we would grow to spiritual
maturity in you, our Lord.
O Holy Spirit of God, by your grace,
by this living word that we have experienced
this morning, we pray that you would lead
us to spiritual maturity.
Give us insight and understanding, knowledge
and wisdom, so that we may be true
Christians in this world.
Please continue with us into this day, O
Lord.
May your hand be upon us.
Keep us safely.
We ask this in your precious name.
Amen.