First Peter 2:2–3:
As newborn babes, desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up unto salvation, if ye have tasted that the Lord is good.
I will read it again:
As newborn babes, desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up unto salvation, if ye have tasted that the Lord is good.
Let us pray together.
Lord, we can come and confess this morning together, just after breaking bread, that we have tasted indeed that the Lord is good; that we have worshiped You and been in Your presence and remembered You. It is our confession that You are our Savior, who loves us to the uttermost, and You are our Lord. We give our lives over to You, Lord.
We come and commit this time to You also, that again, as we are in Your Word, we can taste and see that the Lord is so good. Lord, we come with a desire, an earnest desire, seeking Your Word, seeking Your face, wanting to hear from You.
Lord, we pray that You would bless this time and meet us in this time. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now, if all of us can open up to the book of Hebrews, chapters 5 and 6, I want to continue looking at this topic of going from milk to meat.
A while back, some weeks back, we looked more at the ground—the solid ground—that we have as Christians. Even though there is a maturing, even though there is a going from milk to meat, a going from babyhood to maturity, there is something so solid. There is a foundation that is immovable, and it is impossible to regain your foundation: the foundation of Christ.
At that time, a phrase that stuck out was, “You ought to be teachers.” We were using that as a way of looking at this, considering not only our own benefit and understanding, but also helping other people.
Again, as we continue looking at this growth process from milk to meat, there is another phrase I want to pull out from Hebrews 5: “You again have need of milk.”
This is in Hebrews 5, beginning in verse 11. If you remember, in the book of Hebrews there is a slight pause in this section. There is a hindrance for the writer, where he feels he cannot continue sharing this word of righteousness concerning Christ as our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
He is sharing a strong encouragement, a strong exhortation, to go on to maturity—to live this life because Christ is praying for us, and Christ stands there as the High Priest, always interceding for us. But before going on, he feels the need to come back, because some are stumped and some cannot hear that word.
He had already mentioned Melchizedek and some of these things, and then he just kind of stopped. He continues later in the book of Hebrews by going further into that word.
Hebrews 5:11–14:
Concerning whom we have much to say, and hard of interpretation, seeing ye have become dull of hearing.
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.
Basically, he is saying, “I cannot go on saying what I want to say because you are not able to hear it.” Here is why: when, by reason of the time, you ought to be teachers, you again need someone to teach you the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God. You have become such as have need of milk and not solid food.
Hebrews 6:1–3 says:
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.
And this will we do, if God permit.
I read that passage because I want to talk about this setting and circumstance. They ought to be at a mature place where they can help others with the basic things of milk. They ought to be able to handle meat. They ought to be able to handle the word of righteousness, which is what he wants to get into.
But instead, they are dull of hearing. There is something stopping them, and he needs to again give milk. “You again need milk,” he says.
Now, I want to borrow the phrase, “You again need milk,” and apply it in a larger way. When do we need milk? Are we at a place today where we again need milk?
In this case, it is a negative circumstance, in a way. Obviously, they should be able to handle more. They should be able to listen, hear, digest, and chew on the meat that he wants to bring before them. But they need milk.
There are, however, normal circumstances where we need milk. There are times throughout our lives where we actually need milk.
Just as before, when we looked at the foundation that is immovable, we considered how, from that base of Christ, we build and grow. In the same way, from milk we continue on to meat. But that does not mean that you ever throw away or get rid of the ability to take in milk.
It does not mean that we stop the word of grace because we now have the word of righteousness. Actually, the two always go together.
When I read 1 Peter 2 before, it struck me that this word is for all of us. Peter is saying, “Leave behind all malice and corruption, but just like newborn babes, crave—desire earnestly, like a baby would—that pure spiritual milk of the Word, that you may grow up unto salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
For me, that is something for all of us, for all time. We are always, as it were, like babies concerning that pure spiritual milk of the Word. We are always desiring more. We always have this craving as we continue to grow.
But it stood out to me that it says growth. Though you may be very mature, in order to continue growing, you come back craving and desiring earnestly the milk of the Word. Then there is a growth that comes from that.
Right before this passage, at the end of 1 Peter 1, Peter talks about the Word that has been received. You are born again by this eternal Word, because the flesh is like grass, but the Word of the Lord abides forever. That leads into craving the Word.
The picture is that you are born again; now you are a baby. Because you were birthed by that Word of the gospel, you continue to crave the Word, and it brings you on into maturity.
The picture I want us to see is that, as we go further in maturity, we are always going from milk to meat. Whenever something more mature is brought up in Scripture, whenever something of the word of righteousness is brought up, it is embedded in the word of grace.
The word of grace is like the beginning—the very beginning of grace that you first receive. It is that I receive everything from the Lord. But if we study grace, we see that there is another layer: not just what I have received of grace, but now grace works in me.
As grace works in me, and as I live by grace, that becomes the word of righteousness. Now the Lord can talk about the right things to do—doing what is right before God by His grace.
This is how the two are connected. But if you disconnect the two, if you leave off the reception, the receiving, the taking in of those easy things—that I am in Christ and have received everything in Christ—then whenever someone talks about what you ought to do, it becomes impossible.
It becomes law. It becomes something heavy. It becomes something that is not really meat; it is ruined meat. It is expired, because something is missing—even the ability.
When we merely tell each other the right and wrong things we should do, it is like giving a steak to a toothless baby, even with a mature believer. The more we go into deeper maturity, the Lord always begins by catapulting us from grace.
It is always the craving for the pure spiritual milk of the Word, that by it you may grow. As you first receive that, you say, “Yes,” and it brings you further into the growth process.
That is the concept we will get into. But to get there, I think we need to back up and consider the real needs for milk.
The first need for milk is when you are a baby Christian, obviously. We can learn from these verses the characteristics of a newborn Christian.
One of the first things we have already brought up is that a baby needs milk. A baby cannot handle meat.
When we consider milk, probably the best picture is a human baby. A brand-new baby would be nursing from the mother and receiving milk from her. This is the best milk possible for the baby.
The mother has already eaten her food. All the difficulties of breaking down the food and drawing out its nutrients have happened within her. What the baby receives is pure—easy to swallow with no teeth, easy to bring into the body. All those nutrients are immediately received. All the goodness is there without the bad stuff.
We do not know why they have so many diapers, though. But the milk itself is so good. It is so easy for them to gain from it.
Even in the hospital, if a baby is a little sick or sickly, they strongly encourage parents to nurse rather than use something else, because all the abilities to fight off sickness, germs, and other things are there in the mother’s milk. She has had years to build up immunities to these things. So it is very safe and healthy for the baby when they have the mother’s milk.
Spiritually speaking, milk is food that is not hard to digest. It is something received from the Lord that I do not have to work hard to gain.
Sometimes, when you are reading the Word of God, some passages require a little chewing to discover the meaning or find Christ in them. Often, we hear from someone else who has been chewing on it. They have been studying and working hard. They have done the meat-chewing.
Although it may be a meaty word that they fellowship with us, as they share, they have already done the chewing. When we hear it, it is a little easier to digest. They have already connected the dots with other Scriptures, and then suddenly you can receive it more easily.
We all experience that often. Sometimes we are reading a book, hearing a message, or talking to somebody in a Bible fellowship time. As they share, you can tell they have paid a price in meditating on the Word or studying. But when they share it with you, it is like, “Oh, yes, that just makes easy sense.” It clicks, and it is obvious.
But they paid a price. They may have spent years finding the gold that is in the Word of God. We use that concept sometimes when we speak about milk and meat.
More specifically, as far as the content of milk goes, it is the easy-to-digest spiritual word. For example, it is what we receive or what we have in Christ—nothing to do with what we do.
Everything embedded in me in Christ is the word of grace. That is the gospel that we share. We share that Christ died for you, and you receive that. There is nothing for you to do when you receive it. It is very easy to take in and very easy to swallow.
He did the work, and I just believe and receive. God has put me in Christ.
In all this word of grace, there is much to discover. There is a lot of milk. It is not a small word. There is an unsearchable realm of easy-to-digest things, because it is the realm of all that I have in Christ.
For example, in 2 Corinthians 5, if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new is there.
Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.
—2 Corinthians 5:17
For us to say, “You are a new creature; now live like this,” is one thing. But if you back up to the milk part of it, you rest for a moment: if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation.
As you sit there, enjoying and tasting and seeing that the Lord is good, you realize there is a new creation in Christ. Then you can hear the further word: I am in Christ; I am part of this new creation.
For maturing purposes, someone can then go on to discuss how a new creature walks. But the milk of the Word, even for the baby, is all those things that we have received.
It is very wonderful. It is very much tasting and seeing that the Lord is good, and it all has to do with the Lord.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good” from 1 Peter 2:3 reminds us of Psalm 34:8, where David says:
Oh taste and see that the Lord is good:
Blessed is the man that taketh refuge in Him.
David was in the midst of failure and trouble. He acted like a wild man, but in that place you can see him enjoying all that he had received in God.
As a baby Christian, what we share is nurturing and healthy, filled with the love the Lord has for them. It should not always be all the things they should do and should not do. It should be a discovery of who they are in Christ.
From the comfort of what they have in Christ, a baby Christian naturally wants to follow the Lord. Even the first reaction of a baby Christian is, “I have received so much; I want to give my life back.” Then they are baptized.
That is the baby step. That is the baby movement.
The expectation is not that all the details of our expectations are put upon the baby. Instead, the more we give milk to a baby Christian, the more fruit and growth we will see in their life.
Even when they start to veer off a little bit, the correction can still come through milk. In Romans 6, the discovery of a baby is that their sins are forgiven, that God’s grace is bigger than all their sins, and that where sin abounded, grace overabounded.
They may then ask, “Well, then, can I go on sinning so that grace will get bigger?” But notice how Romans 6 corrects that thought.
Rather than merely saying, “No, you cannot do that. That is evil, and the Bible says not to sin,” Paul reminds them who they are in Christ.
Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
—Romans 6:3–4
Do you not remember? When you were baptized, you were identified with Christ. You are one with Christ. He died, He was buried, and He rose from the dead. You also have died to sins. All that past has been buried, and now you have newness of life in resurrection.
It is a discovery of Christ.
The milk of the Word includes things such as the Lord’s divinity, the Lord’s humanity, and the basic understandings of Christ. It includes what He has done on earth: Christ as our Apostle and the accomplished work He finished on the cross.
All of this is milk. A baby Christian can handle milk and can receive so much of it. The more that is shared, the more they can grow. We continue to share, share, and feed—almost like holding a bottle up to a baby.
Another characteristic of a baby found in Hebrews is that everyone who partakes of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness.
Solid food belongs to full-grown men who, on account of habit, have their senses exercised for discerning between good and evil.
A baby does not yet have skill in the word of righteousness. They need milk rather than meat. It needs to be easy to digest.
When righteousness is shared, it should be for those who have had some experiences. As those experiences continue, they become skilled in the word of righteousness.
The natural way that this happens with a baby Christian is that the word of righteousness first comes from within rather than from without. That word of grace turns into the second layer of grace: not just me in Christ, but Christ in me. I am abiding in Christ, but then I find out that He is abiding in me.
The natural reaction, when a baby Christian is helped with milk, is that eventually they themselves hear a word deep in their spirit that says, “Do.” Not merely receive, but now there is the word of righteousness, which is “do.”
As they act upon that word, the more skilled they become in acting upon it. Then, even if they hear a word of righteousness from outside, there can be a witness within.
The Holy Spirit within them, whom they have been discovering in their walk, can bear witness as someone shares, “You ought to do this. The Christian walks like this.” They can look to the Lord, with whom they have been walking, who always leads them in what to do. They take it back to the Lord, and they gain a new skill in the word of righteousness.
That is a maturing process.
At the very beginning, think of a newborn baby. They are not crawling, rolling, or doing anything. They are not stumbling. Even that word of “do” has not really been brought inside very much yet.
They are doing things, but it seems to happen accidentally. It is just a reaction. Even naturally, some baptism reactions are like that. They do not fully know; they simply say, “Yes, baptize me.”
There is not yet the purposeful thought, “Let me see everything clearly and step into what I am about to do.” There is simply first love that naturally jumps into anything without looking. It is first love that brings them into following the Lord.
Another thing Hebrews 5:14 mentions is that full-grown believers can discern between good and evil. This is part of their discernment.
Another place that mentions babies is Ephesians 4:14:
That we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error.
That is a characteristic of a baby. They do not distinguish between good and evil. They are tossed back and forth by every wind of teaching.
If they hear one thing, they can easily be brought that way. If they hear another thing, it makes sense to them, and they can be brought that way. There is not yet that ability to tell what is right or wrong. So they are easily persuaded.
Babies need protection. Yet there is a protection that the Lord has embedded within every baby Christian.
Because they are naturally tossed back and forth by everything they hear, and because they cannot yet distinguish good from evil, the anointing has been put within them: the Holy Spirit.
This is mentioned in 1 John 2. To the little children—the baby stage of growth—the encouragement is that they have the anointing. They have the Holy Spirit.
If antichrists come and share deceiving words, although a baby Christian does not know good from evil or know the Word as strongly as a young man, they have the Holy Spirit. They may feel helpless, but they have the ability, not yet to distinguish good from evil, but to distinguish life from death.
That is a characteristic of a baby. Sometimes a baby Christian is sharper in distinguishing life from death than the rest of us. We have grown and learned to tell good from evil to some degree, and we can match things with the Word that we know. But a baby Christian can hear someone talk and say, “Something is wrong with that guy.”
There is a sensing that happens.
With us as Christians, when a baby Christian hears something wrong, there can be a strange feeling: “That is just not right. I cannot explain it. My mind wants to be persuaded, but deep within, where I have been receiving so much milk and so much grace, I know it does not sit well.”
It tastes like sour milk.
A baby can tell when milk is bad. If you accidentally give them a bottle that is two days old, they immediately reject it. They are like, “Bad milk.” Babies can just tell.
That is a protection for babies, although it is also a mark of a baby that they are tossed around.
Even in the Garden of Eden, you have these two things: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life should come first for a baby.
Adam and Eve were like babies, and they should have simply taken of life rather than trying to distinguish good from evil through the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That discernment is for maturity.
Another passage is 1 Corinthians 3. Last time, we used this section as a parallel with Hebrews 5 and 6. This time, I want to pull out the first few verses to give us more descriptions of a baby Christian—the one who needs milk.
1 Corinthians 3:1–3 says:
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: for whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal, and do ye not walk after the manner of men?
One mark of a baby is that they are fleshy. We are talking about a good baby here—a normal Christian baby at the baby stage.
Of course, in Hebrews 5 and 1 Corinthians 3, we have Christians who should not be babies but are acting like babies. So they are called carnal or fleshly. But if we look at a normal baby for a moment, a normal baby is fleshy. They are just a big bundle of flesh.
In 1 Corinthians 3, there are a couple of different words used for fleshly or carnal. One is in verse 1, where Paul says he had to speak to them as fleshy, as babes in Christ. Later he says, “You are still carnal.”
They sound similar: sarkinos and sarkikos. They both include flesh, but they are slightly different. One is simply describing them as a big ball of flesh—a lump of flesh, like a baby.
They are very adorable and wonderful, they have life, and they are humans. But they seem to be flesh. They cry, use diapers, and eat.
This is normal for a baby. We love a baby Christian who seemingly does not do anything. They have joy, and they cry. They can pray, and they can make a mess. But the mess is okay—and it even smells okay at that stage.
With a baby Christian, we expect it. We expect them to be fleshy: needy and selfish. That is really the thing when we say fleshly or fleshy.
If it is a baby Christian and they are selfish, it is no big deal. If it is a Christian who should be more mature and they remain selfish, it looks very ugly.
Another description in 1 Corinthians 3 is that they walk according to man. As Christians who have matured some, we should not walk according to man. But as a baby Christian, this is one of the characteristics: they walk according to man.
What that means is that you cannot always tell they are saved by the fruit of their life, because they have just received eternal life. They have not had enough time to walk it out or live it out. Usually there is a reaction, but then you may see things that they do which you know not to do. Yet they are a baby Christian, so you are gentler.
You see that they sometimes walk like an unbeliever.
In 1 Corinthians 2 and 3, Paul describes several kinds of people: the spiritual man, the natural man, and the carnal man. The natural man is a person without the Holy Spirit. The carnal man is, in the case of a baby Christian, a fleshy person who has the Holy Spirit but is not walking by the Spirit yet because they are just discovering.
If someone is still not walking by the Holy Spirit and continues to live as though they are an unbeliever, they are carnal and fleshly, and it is not as it ought to be.
Another description of little children in 1 John 2, as opposed to young men and fathers, is that they know the Father. They have known the Father.
This is another way we see that a baby needs milk: they have the life. They can cry out, “Abba, Father.” They are born again, and we can often tell by the way they pray that they know the Father. They are born from above. They are born again.
So it is discoverable, even though they may walk according to man.
With a mature believer, you can almost reverse all those things. I will not go through the whole list, but there are opposites to those characteristics.
In 1 John 2, young men and fathers are mentioned. In other passages, they are almost bundled together. The father stage is a furtherance of an already mature position: a young man who is strong in the Word and able to overcome.
Those ones can handle meat. They can handle the word of righteousness. They can digest those kinds of things.
The mature ones have a specific mindset. That mindset is mentioned in Philippians 3. Paul says that all who are mature should have this mindset. If you do not have this mindset, walk in what you have, and the Lord will make it known to you.
If a baby Christian continues to walk step by step in what they have, they will gain this mindset.
What is the mindset? “I want to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings. I want to be conformed to His death. I want to arrive at the out-resurrection from the dead. I want to gain the prize for which I am called.”
It is a mindset of maturing.
Those who are mature, or perfect, or full-grown, have this mindset of wanting to mature further. This mindset is developed by going from milk to meat. It is developed by tasting and seeing that the Lord is good, and then craving more of the Lord.
Why would you want to know Him if you have already known Him? Because you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and you want to know Him more.
Why would the mature believer, like the Apostle Paul, still say, “I want to know Him”? Because every time he receives from the grace of the Lord and from the milk of the Word, he receives so much that he wants more. He is then willing to chew, digest, and pay the price.
Part of digesting is paying the price. It is chomping down on the fellowship of His sufferings. Why would you want fellowship in His sufferings? Because you get to know Him more. It is called fellowship.
It is not merely, “I want sufferings.” It is, “I want to fellowship with Him in sufferings.”
How do you develop the mindset of the mature? By constantly tasting and seeing that the Lord is good, and then wanting more of the Lord. That is what brings you into growth.
What about cases where you need milk, but you are not a baby Christian? First, I want to mention a good, natural, normal circumstance: the sick sheep.
At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus told Peter to feed the lambs and shepherd the sheep. That makes sense. A lamb is a baby sheep, and they need to be fed and really helped. You almost hold the bottle to their mouths and feed them.
But a sheep can chew grass. A sheep is shepherded and guided to the grassy land. You encourage and show the way a little, but they can chew, digest, and eat for themselves. You do not have to put anything in their mouths. They do the chewing.
But when a sheep is sick, the third thing Jesus said to Peter was, “Feed My sheep.” That is for the sick sheep.
When we become a sick sheep and are wounded in some way, we may feel as though we have fallen down to the point that we cannot chew anything. Whatever anyone says to us, there is a reaction in us: “I am hopeless. I have given up.”
We may feel as though all we can receive right now is for somebody to tell us that the Lord loves us.
When someone comes alongside and shares how He loved you and gave Himself for you, suddenly it is refreshing milk. You taste and see again that the Lord is good.
Through nurturing that sick sheep, they can be brought back to health. Often they are sick in their mind; there is some wrong thought that needs to be brought through. It should not merely be argued through, as though you are throwing meat or grass at a sick sheep.
Instead, in a gracious way, share the word of grace, which can clear up any wrong thought and bring them back into health. The more they are nurtured in that way, the sick sheep does not stay sick. They receive from the milk. They receive help.
When we are fellowshipping with other believers, if it is a new believer, we know to share the milk of the Word—especially the grace of the Word—and help them discover the word of righteousness from within. We help them discover more of Christ in that natural, life-rising way.
But with a sick, wounded sheep, be more careful and discerning. Recognize that this poor soul needs comfort and encouragement. For the moment, set aside the other things you discern that they are doing wrong.
If you see that they are wounded, try to heal the wound first. Bandage the broken leg before you go on to teach them how to run.
There are unfortunately other cases where milk is needed, such as those in Hebrews 5 and 1 Corinthians 3.
In 1 Corinthians, the Corinthian believers do not receive meat because they are fleshly. They enjoy everything being easy and received—everything that they have in Christ—but they are not wanting to do anything.
That is the case of selfishness growing too big. It is like milk turning into chocolate milk. It becomes bad for your teeth, and the baby gets too fat and needs to start walking. It is too much milk.
Sometimes, if the bottle has too big an opening, the baby gets really big because they have been drinking too much. But when the baby has to work a little for the milk, it helps them to grow.
With the Corinthian believers, Paul said that when he was with them, they were just babies. He was with them for a year and a half, and he determined only to know Christ and Him crucified. There is wisdom for the mature, but when he was with them, they were babies.
Now he wants to share wisdom with them, but again he can only share milk.
Because there was so much carnality in Corinth—so many carnal problems mainly having to do with selfishness—Paul shares Christ and Him crucified in every circumstance. But in this case, he does it differently than he would with a wounded sheep or a brand-new baby.
With a new baby or wounded sheep, he shares all that they have in Christ: God has put you in Christ, and Christ was crucified for you. Then they can discover more.
But in this case, he is pushing them toward maturity every time he shares the milk.
“Christ and Him crucified—but you also know that you were crucified with Christ. Christ and Him crucified—but you know that means you can put to death those carnal deeds by the cross.”
He is showing a larger discovery. He is going from milk to meat in a definite and specific way.
This is the need when we find ourselves as carnal Christians, or when we are fellowshipping with a Christian who has had too much milk by itself. Now it is milk with a little meat. It is like adding a little oatmeal to the bottle with the milk. You are increasing it. You are doing baby food a little bit, but you are still keeping the sharing of milk.
Paul says, “You have need of milk again.” Here he says, “I still need to share with you milk. I still cannot share with you the meat.” But the approach is now a push toward maturing.
It is still, “Look at what you have in Christ. Taste and see that the Lord is good.” But now it is also, “Let us go. Let us take the step. Let us react to that.”
In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul says, “The love of Christ constraineth us.” Then he gives this wonderful formula:
One died for all, therefore all died;
and He died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto Him who for their sakes died and rose again.
—2 Corinthians 5:14–15
There is milk and meat put together. “Christ died for all”—that is milk. “Therefore all died”—now you begin to digest a little bit. That means I also have died.
Those who live, those who have received life from Him, should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. That is going on into maturity. That is pushing the thing further.
In the Corinthian letter, it is more a matter of, “I do not want to mature.” But in Hebrews, it is more, “I just do not get it.”
Last time, we majored on trying to get at least one thing down: you do not need to be saved again. You do not need to rehash that foundation.
With the Hebrews, he is able to say, “I need to give you milk again,” but he goes through it quickly. He shares a few things and reminds them of the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God—the beginning word of Christ, the elementary foundational teachings that had been laid down in the past.
These foundational teachings were almost like an outline of the basics given to baby Christians: repentance from dead works, faith in God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
He refers to those things and reminds them that they cannot lose their foundation. Suddenly, from that milk, he is able to push them on: now that you have been considering Christ, continue to consider Him.
The way he goes into Christ in Hebrews as the High Priest is constantly still with a little milk and a lot of meat—gradually more and more meat.
In the beginning, when he says, “Consider Christ, our High Priest,” such as in Hebrews 3, he shares a little of what we have received in Him and then says, “Do not fall into the sin of unbelief.”
The encouragement is simply, “Consider Christ right now.” As he goes further into this meat, he constantly brings them back to behold Christ and taste and see that the Lord is good.
Then, in that moment, we can talk about taking a step and doing. Because He is praying for you, because you are receiving, because He is there, because He has already gone the way—this is all for you. This is all grace.
Now discover the grace within, and let us go on to maturity.
Lastly, I want to use those foundational teachings very briefly—not to get into them much, but as an illustration of going from milk to meat. I want to show how this taste-and-crave experience should happen with us.
Hebrews 6:1 begins:
Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.
These six elementary teachings are sectioned off in three pairs. The first pair is repentance from dead works and faith in God.
At the milk stage, what happened to us when we were born again? This is a past experience. When we repent and are saved, what do we repent of? At the forefront of our minds, we repent of our sins.
But included in all of that is more than sorrow for sins and a desire not to do them anymore. When we have faith in God, when we believe on the Lord Jesus, there is an acknowledgment that I cannot save myself.
These dead works do not only mean sinful works. They mainly mean any works by someone dead—the works of the dead old man.
All my works, I repent of when I get saved. I cannot bring any of my actions with me to get to heaven. All I can do is bring the one action that Christ has done. I can lean on that, believe on that, and trust in Christ.
I have turned from my dead works and turned to the one work that Christ has done, where He died on the cross for my sins. He saves me by His work and by none of my works.
That is the word of grace. That is milk.
That is me saying, “Sure, I can do that.” There is nothing to do. It is simply letting go. I let go of all my good. Of course, I easily let go of my bad, and I am thankful to be forgiven of my sins. But even the good things I have tried to do, I realize are filthy rags. I realize they are not going to cut it.
When I come to Christ, I say, “He alone can save me.” I call on the name of the Lord, and I am saved. I cannot call on myself to save myself.
This is a wonderful thing.
When that happens, we taste and see that the Lord is good. You have not done anything; you have simply believed. You have received eternal life.
He is so good that I could not do anything, but He did everything. He is so good that all my sins have been washed clean because Christ died on the cross for me.
All my works from the past are not remembered. Everything in that book that could be opened and judged—all the works I have done, listed out and shown—it has all been erased by the precious blood of Jesus.
When we come to the Lord’s table, this is part of what is happening. We remember the past, including our past experience of repenting from dead works and having faith in God. But that remembrance becomes current.
Because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, the remembrance is brought to the forefront. Right now, I can thank the Lord and taste and see that the Lord is so good. He is so good.
As you take the cup and then take the bread, you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. What rises up within is a desire to go forth—to go and sin no more, to work the works of God, and to do the will of God.
You are strengthened by the life from the bread, in a sense, or by the life of Christ that has been received. You react, and you crave more of the Lord.
Often, after we take the elements, there is a type of praise or giving ourselves to the Lord, saying, “Let us go forth this week and follow the Lord.” I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and now I want more. Now I am ready for more. The Lord strengthens us to do and not merely receive.
But sometimes, when you come to the Lord’s table, you are there as a sick sheep. As words and Scriptures are shared, and you remember the precious blood, and you remember that He died for you, that milk comes in such a soothing way.
As you receive that and pray your prayer of sorrow and repentance—“How foolish I was to walk the other way”—what rises up within is a love that constrains you. What rises up within is a love that says, “I want to follow Him. I want to do the will of God.”
It is a love that does not even count the cost.
Another milk teaching is baptisms and the laying on of hands.
At the basis of the baptism experience for a baby Christian, all the meditation that we may do on baptism, identity, and oneness with Christ is not always understood as much. The basic thing usually understood by the baby Christian is the reaction part of baptism: the belonging-to-Christ part.
As mentioned in 1 Peter 3, the conscience compels them. There is a demand of a good conscience to be baptized. There is the sense: “I have been saved, and now I must give myself to Him.”
When they come through the waters and come out on the other side, there is a general impression with the baby Christian. Hopefully, some words have been shared, but however much ignorance is there, one thing remains: “I belong to Christ. I am with Christ. I do not belong to the world anymore. I am with Him.”
This is their reaction: “I am going to follow the Lord.” It is the reaction of, “I have received, and now I come.”
It is still in the realm of milk at that beginning stage, because it is like the Lord saying, “Yes, come. You belong to Me. You are with Me. You are no longer part of all that world that was against you.”
It is like the Israelites coming from Egypt through the Red Sea. “I have been saved by the Passover Lamb, and now I am escaping.”
It is not as much, “I am through with the world, and I am now fully consecrated to the Lord.” As a baby Christian, it is more the feeling, “Get me away from that ruler of this world who enslaved me before, and bring me to the other side of these waters.”
You are brought to the other side in baptism. You can look back and see the horse, the chariots, Pharaoh, and his armies—all buried. You simply say, “Thank God.”
Then someone can say, “Why would you sin anymore? All of that has been buried. You have been baptized, remember? You have a new life.”
The same is true with the laying on of hands. We will not get into it much, but generally in Scripture, when there is laying on of hands, there is a connection with someone.
If it is the doctrine of laying on of hands, not every new believer in the Bible necessarily had physical hands laid on them, as far as we can see. We see all of them getting baptized, except cases such as the thief on the cross. But in special circumstances there is a physical laying on of hands.
For new believers, the action of laying on hands especially impresses upon them and everybody around them that they belong to the church. We are identified together.
My hand on you means we are one. It is like the Old Testament, where a hand would be laid on the animal sacrificed for you, and you say, “Me and that animal, we are identified. As he dies, it is as though I am dying for my sins.”
With a new believer, the milk they receive when they are saved is this: you are brought into a family. We are identified together. You belong to a community of fellowship. You belong to the Lord’s people. You are not in this alone.
For a brand-new Christian, this is milk and soothing for the soul. It is wonderful grace upon grace. You come in and say, “I not only belong to the Lord, but I discover this sister and this brother. They share, and I am edified by them also.”
There is so much joy when a new believer comes into the church and enters fellowship. They want to call you up, grab you, and tell you about the new discovery they had in the Bible. It is milk simply to fellowship. It is milk simply to know, “I am not in this by myself.”
As believers mature, they have wounds and hardships. It can become like meat simply to come into fellowship and be part of the body of Christ. There becomes more of the “do.”
For some of us, it becomes tiring, weary, and wearing. In some cases, at least in some small way, you are like a sick sheep that is wounded—at least in the area of the laying on of hands.
Sometimes you need to take a step back and realize, “At least I belong to the Lord’s people.”
Just squint your eyes for a moment and see only this part: it is the family of God. Get a little fuzzy with all the mistakes of everybody, and instead see the Christ in everybody.
Usually new believers see that. They may hear a bad message and say, “That was the best message. Did you hear that?” Somebody may do something wrong, and they say, “That person was so great to me,” because all they can see is Christ sometimes.
Hopefully, we do not bring out our flesh too soon with baby Christians. But it is so good that they see Christ in the believers.
For us, sometimes we need to again taste and see that the Lord is good. See that I belong to Christ. I belong to His people. I have been brought into this. I am no longer by myself. I am not in this by myself.
If you take a moment to consider that and say, “Thank God. Praise God. I am in this.” When the saints gather together unto His name, sometimes someone begins a song or begins to pray, and there is a washing and refreshing that happens.
Praise God for the saints. Praise God that His people are His people, that I am in the family of God, and that we are stuck together. Praise the Lord for this.
After you taste and see that the Lord is good in this way, what does it bring you on to do? It brings you on to want to love the brethren. You receive the love of the brethren, and then you want to love them back—just as you receive the love of God and want to love Him back, and you get baptized.
The last things to mention are resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. At the very basic milk of the Word, remember that we are not looking at all the complications. We are only looking at what is easy to digest: what have I received? What can a baby handle?
For example, John 5:24 says:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life.
In that one verse, you can see the milk of resurrection from the dead and eternal judgment. If you have believed on Christ, you will not come into judgment.
That eternal judgment—the judgment that determines eternity—has been dealt with. This is the milk that we receive. This is the grace. The word of grace is that judgment was judged at the cross for you. So you will not come into that judgment.
For a moment, squint your eyes and set aside the word of righteousness that we know concerning the judgment seat of Christ and other things. Just consider eternal judgment: you will never come into it.
There is no opening of the books to judge you and determine whether you are going to hell or not. You have already passed through it. Christ already passed you through it when you believed on the Lord Jesus.
You can take a step back sometimes and say, “I am really not going to be judged for eternity. I have passed through the lake of fire already. I have passed through hell.”
I can become so consumed in my mind with other things—with the word of righteousness and the race I am running—that I get tripped up. But for a moment, take a step back and say, “At least I have passed through eternal judgment.”
I will never die forever. I have passed out of death into life. I will be raised from the dead, whether I fail or do not fail. There is a resurrection coming, and I will be there.
Whatever I read in the book of Revelation, when I come to Revelation 21, I am right there. I am raised from the dead. I have passed out of judgment. I am in heaven. I am in the New Jerusalem, and I am shining Christ.
You can receive that as milk and say, “Praise the Lord. Taste and see that the Lord is good. There is my name right there in the New Jerusalem.”
However anything happens, however often I have failed, whatever is going on right now, for a moment ignore it and say, “The Lord is good, though. He passed me out of death. He gave me resurrection life. He will never leave me nor forsake me.”
I will never be dead forever. I may fall asleep, but I will never die the eternal death. I will never be judged for hell. I have already been judged at the cross, and Christ took on my judgment.
In the light of that milk, in the light of the truth that the Lord is so good and has brought me through, you can stand up and say, “Praise God. Praise God.”
Sometimes, when you are weak and feel, “I am the sick sheep right now,” you can strengthen yourself with the word of grace. You can rise up and praise Him:
“I know I am going to heaven. I know whom I have believed in. I am persuaded that He is able to keep for that day what I have entrusted to Him. I know Him. I know that I am out of death and into life.”
You can almost ignore the failures and circumstances, come back, and see that the Lord is so good.
Suddenly your reaction is, “I want more of the Lord. I desire earnestly Christ.” All that other stuff that was tempting you toward the world, or all those things that were depressing you, condemning you, and bringing you down with failure upon failure—“I will never rise up and overcome”—you can let those go and say, “I know You are good, and I just want more of You.”
I crave Christ. I want more of the Lord, and I am willing to digest the meat. I am willing to pay the price for more of Christ.
We taste and see that He is so good, and we desire earnestly the pure spiritual milk of the Word, that by it we may grow up unto salvation.
This is going from milk to meat. This is the Lord’s normal growth process with us. I want to lay it before us for us to consider as we go on.
We want the meat, but do not throw out the milk. Always keep the milk. Together, let us go from milk to meat.
Let us pray together.
Oh, Lord, we thank You so much that You are so good to us; that we are found in Christ; that we have received everything from You; and that even Your encouragement to go on is always by Your grace.
It is always by Your strength. It is always Christ in me, the hope of glory. It is always that You are going to do this together with us.
Lord, we have come to You and received rest spiritually. Again, in light of that, and knowing how good You are, we take up that yoke together with You. We want to discover more of that rest. We want to find rest for our souls, know You more, and walk together with You.
Lord, we see how good You are, and we really desire more of You. In Jesus’ name, amen.