Hebrews 5:11-14 NLT “There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.
13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right.
14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”
Maturity does not come naturally by twiddling your thumbs and looking at each other, hoping for God to bring some miracle. Was Jacob’s family praying and just waiting for God to provide? As the Holy Spirit has taught you through me, there is a difference in how God handles you in the wilderness and in the promised land. In the wilderness, God fed supernaturally, providing manna and quails with a rock that miraculously provided water. In the promised land, you will need to conquer, possess, and eat. Let me repeat, you will need to conquer to possess and eat!
The adults will go to war while the babies wait for their parents to bring the spoils and food to be fed. As a member of our church or a leader, do you fight with us, or are you a child waiting to be fed and taken care of like a baby? Some of my members have committed to me through the years; if God will bless them, they will see to the financial needs of the pastors, but ironically, I am taking care of you due to your lack of maturity. Bishop has to send money to the LA branch just to hold a revival because they are immature and lacking. The LA branch is supposed to be the elder branch before our church. Bishop has never given to our ministry because we were lacking. In fact, we support him on both levels personally and in ministry, and this is why you are blessed because of the decisions of your personal pastors.
How do we reach maturity? Scripture above shows us that maturity is the ability to know the difference between right and wrong. Maturity is the ability not just to know the difference between right and wrong but to act accordingly within that context.
“I see a wrong, I need to make it right. I see a right, I need to press into it!”
Jacob and his sons see a wrong. They are about to die from starvation. They are expecting God to provide. But God will provide, but not in the way they expect. God shows us here that Jacob and his family must come out of their box of safety and comfort and go to Egypt because that is where the food is abundant. They must do something besides waiting. They have prayed and waited long enough, but they heard Egypt has food. It can mean go get a job in the world! But who is in Egypt? Joseph is working in Egypt. God’s method will not always look spiritual on the outside if you only look for spiritual solutions. Then you will physically starve to death.
Scripture tells us maturity is through training. We have many members who have been with us for a decade. It is like students who have been in school for a long time but still do not know how to read or write. Solid food is for the mature. It is like college is for the ready. But there are students who have been in school for a long time and still cannot read or write. Why? It is because they have not kept up with their homework or assignments, and have not passed their tests, but have attended class and pretended to listen. Or they were wasting time watching YouTube, listening to other curriculum, disrespecting teachers, and not doing core assignments.
What shall we do now?
The answer is in the next chapter because verse 14 is the last verse of chapter 5.
Hebrews 6:1-6 NLT “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.
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.”
This is very scary. In verse 6, turn away is like God’s people turning away from the promised land because they refuse to grow up. But previous scripture implies that, as babies, you have experienced and tasted the higher things of heaven and the Holy Spirit. How many times are we going to start over – verse 1 is asking?
Additional Comments:
From X grok Ai
• Functional Illiteracy:
Approximately 30-40% of students graduate high school with reading and writing skills insufficient for basic societal functions (e.g., reading instructions, filling out forms), often labeled as “functionally illiterate.” This aligns with posts on X claiming 40% functional illiteracy rates among graduates, though exact definitions vary.
I hope we are not spiritually illiterate, following the problems of our country, which is reading, writing, and math illiteracy.
Verse 1
“Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. “
Baby Christians love to say, “Have faith in God.”
This is a good saying, but it is elementary. Babies can only say, Mom and Dad will do it.
“Have faith in God” does work, and God sends manna and quail with a rock to follow you, and thus u think you are spiritual cause u experience a rock supernaturally gushing out water.
But once u know God is faithful, then it is time to co-labor with Him.
Verse 1
“Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds. “
How many times are we going to repent for the same things every season because we will not let go of our idols as we hide between the “pretending and lip service?”
Senior Pastor Steve Kim