1. Rebecca Brown—In His Service
2/22/2019
Rebecca Brown—In His Service

6. Hebrews 5:11-14The Message (MSG) I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.

7. Hebrews 6:1-3 6 So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. 2 You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

8. In our text, the author of Hebrews is saying, “Grow up, folks
In our text, the author of Hebrews is saying, “Grow up, folks!” He was frustrated and aware that: If there is spiritual life, then there will be spiritual growth. Conversely, If there is no spiritual growth then there will be spiritual withering (shrinking).

10. Why are many of us withering and not growing?

11. You may be withering if: “you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening.”

14. You may be withering if you are not driven by hunger and thirst for righteousness.

15. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6).

17. You may be withering if you have allowed your relationship with Jesus Christ get old.

19. You may be withering if you are too comfortable.

20. Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (VOICE) 11 But then be very careful
Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (VOICE) 11 But then be very careful! Don’t forget the Eternal your God and disobey the commands and decrees and rules I’m giving you today. 12 When your stomachs are full, when you’ve built comfortable houses to live in, 13 when you have large herds and flocks, when you possess plenty of silver and gold, and when you have more things than you imagined possible; 14 then don’t become proud and puffed up and forget Him. He brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.

22. You may be too comfortable if you can’t find anything to thank God for.

24. You may be too comfortable if you are too comfortable in the area of sin.

27. You may be withering if you are a creature of habit.

29. You may be withering if you are too lazy and a procrastinator.

31. You may be withering if you are too busy.

34. Christian growth means moving on to deeper levels of understanding.

35. Christian growth requires laying a foundation of doctrine and then building on it.

36. Christian growth does not happen automatically; it takes deliberate effort.
In 1 Timothy 4:7,
Paul tells Timothy
to “discipline himself
for the purpose of
godliness.”

37. 4 For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— 6 and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.

39. 7 When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. 8 But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.

40. It is dangerous to profess faith in Christ but to have no evidence of fruit in our lives.

41. It is dangerous not to practice frequent repentance.

42. It is dangerous not to worry about this warning if your heart is callused, or to worry excessively about it if your heart is tender.

45. References Are You Withering
References Are You Withering?--by Darren Ethier Grow Up – Steven Cole When Is Saving Repentance Impossible? – John Piper