Will you please turn to the book of Hebrews, chapter 5? We will read from Hebrews 5:12-14.
For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that some one teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food.
For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.
But solid food is for fullgrown men, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, as we gather here in Thy presence, we open to Thee. We want to hear what Thou hast to say to us. Speak, Lord; Thy servants hear.
May Your glory be manifested, and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We ask all in the name of our precious Lord Jesus. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, I am not going to preach at you. I want to consider with you all one very basic and important question: the matter of the secret of spiritual growth.
We know that the writer of Hebrews said here in Hebrews 5:12-14 that, according to the time that they had believed in the Lord Jesus, they ought to have been teachers. Yet they still needed to be taught the elementary principles of the Word of God. They still needed to drink milk; they could not digest solid food.
Solid food is for grown-up people. They are grown up because they have exercised their senses, and they can discern what is good and what is evil.
Brothers and sisters, you find the same thing said by the apostle Paul. If you turn to 1 Corinthians 3, in verse 1 he said:
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able; for ye are yet carnal.
We know that the apostle Paul went to the city of Corinth around A.D. 51 to 53. Before he arrived there, he made a determination before God. He was determined that, after he arrived at Corinth, he would know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
He was with them for a year and six months. After a few years, probably around A.D. 57, he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus. There was only a gap of a few years.
Yet in that letter he told the Corinthian believers, “I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto fleshly.”
Now, the word fleshly is translated “fleshly” because, in the Greek original, there is a variation.
We know that when we are babes, we are very fleshly. Babes are very lovely, but they are very selfish. I would say they are the most selfish people in the world. They are so self-centered. When they demand anything, they have to be answered right away.
They are very natural, but fleshly. During the time of babyhood, of course, they have to be fed with milk.
Now, what is milk? Milk is predigested food. Someone has already digested the food and then supplies you with that predigested food called milk. This is very natural. This is what ought to be.
What is the use of milk? Milk is supplied to babes so that they may absorb it, take it in, and grow up from it.
The apostle Paul said, “I am determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Jesus Christ and Him crucified is milk.
Yes, we need to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We need to know the way of salvation. We need to know what the cross means—what the cross of our Lord Jesus has done for us, how He bore our sins in His body, and how He died as our substitute and also as our representative.
On the cross, He accomplished all the work of redemption. We need to know this. We need to believe in the Lord Jesus. We need to accept all that the cross of our Lord Jesus has done for us.
If we can absorb these things rightly, we will grow up. We will grow from babyhood. That is what should be.
Strangely, the Corinthian believers had accepted Jesus Christ and Him crucified. They ought to have grown up. But the apostle Paul, after a few years, wrote to them and said, “You are still fleshly. I cannot feed you with solid food because you are still carnal.”
Now, carnal is fleshly, but there is a difference. Fleshly is the natural state of babyhood.
But a person who has believed in the Lord Jesus and has trusted in the work of our Lord on the cross, yet remains carnal, still lives by his flesh and not by the Lord Jesus Himself. That is unnatural. It shows that there is something wrong with his absorption.
He seems to be able to absorb the objective truth of what the Lord Jesus has done on the cross, but he has not been able to accept the subjective work of the cross of our Lord Jesus in his life.
Because of this, his self, his flesh, is still very much alive. All the symptoms of carnality were shown among these Corinthian believers. Therefore, they were still in the state of babyhood.
You find this happened also with the Hebrew Christians. We do not know exactly who wrote the book of Hebrews, although we know Who the real Writer is: the Holy Spirit. Most probably, this book was written between A.D. 64 and 67.
We do not know how long these Hebrew Christians had believed in the Lord Jesus. They were once in Judaism, but they were converted from Judaism to Christ.
After a number of years, the writer of Hebrews told them, “Why is it that you still remain as babes? According to the years that you have believed in the Lord Jesus, you ought to be teachers. But now you are still in the fundamental elements of the Word of God.”
You have to be fed instead of being able to feed others. There is something not quite right.
Such a situation not only happened during the first century. Now we are in the twenty-first century, and I am deeply concerned that among God’s people we still seem to have such a condition.
In my contact with God’s people, something really concerns me. I find that among God’s people we seem to have lots of biblical knowledge. We seem to be able to absorb all these objective truths.
Now, of course, objective truth is very important, because subjective experience must be based upon objective truth. All our spiritual experiences are based upon the finished work of Christ on the cross. These are the foundations, but we have to build upon that foundation.
The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 6:1:
Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
These are considered the beginning principles of Christ. We repent from dead works. Before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we tried to work our way to heaven instead of trusting in our Lord Jesus. These were dead works because they could not save us.
We have to repent from our dead works, not relying upon them. Instead, we believe in our Lord Jesus, Who has died for our sins.
Then there is the doctrine of baptisms. One of them is what we call baptism. Why must one who believes in the Lord Jesus be baptized? Because it is our confession of faith.
Baptism will not save us from our sins, but it will save us from the world. In baptism, we declare that we do not belong to the world anymore; we belong to Christ.
Then there is the laying on of hands. The laying on of hands simply means that we are identified with one another in the body of Christ.
By baptism, we are identified with Christ. By the laying on of hands, we are identified with the body of Christ. Of course, we believe in the resurrection of the dead, and we are delivered from eternal judgment—the judgment of the great white throne.
These are important. These are the foundations. After we have laid the foundation, we have to build upon it.
In other words, after we have believed in the Lord Jesus, after we have received new life, after our dead spirit has been recalled to life, and after the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in our new spirit, then with all that God has given us, this is the time that we should grow up.
So the question is: Why is it that we do not grow up spiritually? Maybe we need to ask this question: Do we really understand what spiritual growth is? How do we know that we have grown up?
If we grow in our physical stature, we can say there is a certain growing up. But we cannot say that because our physical stature has grown, therefore we are spiritually grown. Many physical giants can be spiritual dwarfs.
Spiritual growth is not based upon physical growth, nor is spiritual growth dependent upon our mental growth.
Now, we need to grow mentally. That is why we need to go to school. We need to absorb all kinds of information, and we need to build up our minds. We need to build up biblical knowledge. These are important.
But mental buildup is not spiritual growth. We may have a big brain and a very small heart.
So, what is spiritual growth? Simply put, spiritual growth is the growth of our spirit.
When God created man, He used the red earth to form a body. Then He breathed His breath into the nostrils of that form.
This breath came directly from God. God is Spirit. So when He breathed into man’s nostrils, that breath became man’s spirit. When the spirit and the body act together, you have the soul.
We know we have a body. How do you know? You know you have a body through your five senses. You can see, hear, talk, smell, touch, and taste. By these, you know you have a living body.
When you cannot hear, cannot see, cannot touch, and cannot feel, then that body is dead.
Now, we know we have a soul. The soul is not a material thing. You cannot see it. But how do you know you have a soul? You know you have a soul because you think. You have a mind, feelings, emotions, and a strong will.
Babies will show you their strong determination: “This is what I want.” All these faculties and functions show you that you have a living soul.
When you cannot think anymore, when you cannot express your feelings, and when you have no will of your own, we say that soul is a dead soul.
Now, how do you know you have a spirit? God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. Spirit in man is the most precious gift that God has given to man.
You look at a mountain: it has a big body. You look at a little bird: it has a small body, but a living soul. But you look at a man and find that he not only has a body and a soul; he has a spirit.
Because man is created with a spirit, he can communicate with God, Who is Spirit. This is the most precious gift that God has given to man.
Your body is wonderful and fearfully made. Your soul is also wonderfully made. I was told years ago that if you wanted to compare our brain with a computer, that computer would have to occupy a whole block. Such a small brain can contain so much data.
Wonderful—but that is not the most wonderful thing. The most wonderful gift God has given to man is that there is a spirit in man.
Unfortunately, because of sin, our spirit is dead to God. People know only soul and body.
When I was a boy, we used to have a foreign missionary lady staying with us. We called her Grandma. Whenever she was frustrated, she would say, “Oh, my soul and body!” Now, where is the spirit?
The spirit was dead because of our sin. But thank God, that is what salvation is. That is new birth.
When you are born again, the Holy Spirit touches your dead spirit and makes it living, so that you can communicate with God. That is the most precious thing.
Now, brothers and sisters, what happens when you believe in the Lord Jesus? What is the difference between a believer and an unbeliever?
A believer has his dead spirit quickened into a new life. We have a new spirit.
Where is the life of God? Where does the life of God dwell in you? Where is the life of Christ in you? It is in your new spirit. He is the life of your new spirit.
Where does the Holy Spirit dwell in you? He dwells in your new spirit. Here you find that everything that is of God is in the spirit, and all that God has provided for our spiritual growth is in the spirit.
I would like you to turn to 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Seeing that His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that called us by His own glory and virtue;
whereby He hath granted unto us His precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Here you find that God, in His divine power, has given to us all things that relate to life and godliness.
Life is the one thing that God has given us—the uncreated life of God, Christ Jesus. He is our life. And He has given us godliness.
Godliness simply means likeness to God. God gave us life for what purpose? That we may be like Him. This likeness is not an outward appearance; it is having His character. That is the meaning of image in Scripture: inward likeness.
God’s purpose is that He gave us life so that life may grow into likeness to Him. This is the original purpose of God concerning us, and everything for that growth has been given.
He has given us life. He has given us a new spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us. These are the basics for spiritual growth.
Now, why is it that we do not grow? Let us consider how we come to the Lord. In the very beginning, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins.
Our spirit is dead to God, but that does not mean we have no spirit. The spirit is still there, but it has lost contact with God.
Even though we have lost our contact with God and our spirit is dead, it means that it has gone into a coma. Our dead spirit is in a coma, but it can be awakened.
When the Holy Spirit touches our dead spirit, He convicts our conscience of our sins. So we begin to feel that we are sinful.
I remember, before I believed in the Lord Jesus, I was brought up in a Christian family and studied in mission schools. I knew the stories in the Bible. I even learned prayer and Bible reading. But I was not saved.
There was no real contact between me and God. I knew all these things about God, but I did not know Him.
Because of that, I thought I was rather good. I always believed Jesus was the Savior of the world, but I thought I was too good to be saved. Let the Lord Jesus save those sinners.
I may have done a little cheating, but everybody was doing it. So what was wrong with that?
Brothers and sisters, we did not know ourselves. Then one day the Holy Spirit began to convict us. In a sense, He recalled the dead spirit out of its coma.
Then God the Father began to reveal His Son in us. Simply being convicted of your sins does not save you; it rather puts you under judgment.
But thank God, the Father begins to reveal the Son. It is not merely that somebody tells you that Jesus Christ is your Savior. Directly and intuitively, God tells you, “Your Savior is Jesus.”
Then you believe. And when you believe, what happens? Immediately you can raise up your head and say, “Abba, Father.”
All the faculties that were in a coma have come back. Not only have they come back, but they have been renewed. God now becomes the center of your conscience, the center of your intuition, and the center of your communion.
That is salvation—the beginning. But all the principles of spiritual growth are contained in that beginning. If you walk in this way of life, you grow spiritually.
Unfortunately, Christianity has become an outward religion. You believe in the Lord Jesus, and then you are told, “Do this; do not do that.”
If you are a good Christian, you follow all these instructions. On Sunday you put on your best clothes and come to the meeting. You need to read the Bible, so you hurriedly open it and close it.
People ask you, “What have you read?” You say, “I do not remember.” That is your prayer. That is your devotion. Everything is just outward.
Brothers and sisters, we have lost our secret. The secret is to go back to your spirit. Exercise your spirit.
People exercise their bodies. People exercise their minds. But Christians often do not exercise their spirits.
How do you exercise your spirit? Exercise the functions of your spirit. Exercise the conscience that God has given to you.
Before you believe in the Lord Jesus, people may say, “I do everything according to my conscience, so I will go to heaven.” They do not know that their conscience has lost its standard.
A cannibal can eat people and feel peaceful in his country. But if you wanted to do that, how would you feel? We are shaped by our customs and environment. They are not dependable.
After you are saved, your conscience is cleansed. The Bible says that our conscience is washed by the blood. Now God is our standard, and we are to be led by our conscience in our daily walk.
The apostle Paul said that if you lose your conscience, you are like a ship that has suffered shipwreck. He testified before Governor Felix:
Herein I also exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense toward God and men always.
Brothers and sisters, has our conscience spoken to us? I believe that when we first believe in the Lord Jesus, when our conscience is still fresh, it often speaks to us.
When we are talking, it will speak. We used to exaggerate, and after you believe in the Lord Jesus, when you exaggerate something, Someone within says, “Well, is it true?”
Now, what do you do? You go on speaking. If you do, you will feel troubled. You have to repent and ask God’s forgiveness before you have a clear conscience.
This happens every day. There are so many sins. Do not despise the voice of God in your conscience. That is the guide to your life.
We need to maintain a conscience without offense before God and before men. That will tell us the righteousness of God—what is right and what is wrong in the sight of God. We come into this through our conscience.
The same is true with intuition. God is light.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
God is light, and this light is in us. He will shed His light upon our path. If we do everything according to the inner light, then we have fellowship with God.
If anything is exposed by that light, the blood of our Lord Jesus will cleanse us.
In 1 John 2, it says, “Do you not know that you have the anointing within you?” He will teach you in all things—big things and small things. If you obey and abide in Christ, that is the way of spiritual growth.
The Bible also tells us, “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.”
If we turn our face and behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, then we will be changed from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit.
How we need that personal contact with God. How we need to learn to live in the presence of God, that we may always turn our hearts toward God.
If our heart is truly turned toward God, He will turn toward us, and we will be transformed from glory to glory.
So, brothers and sisters, whether it is in the area of righteousness, in the area of holiness, or in the area of glory, you find that everything begins in the exercise of your spirit.
If we exercise it until it becomes a habit, then you find it is very natural. It will be supernaturally natural. That is the Christian life.
Brothers and sisters, it is very simple. There is nothing high or incomprehensible. It is all within your reach. It is all in you.
God has made all the provision that we may be like Him. That is God’s will for you. May God bless every one of you. Amen.