Growing From Milk to Meat

Well, good afternoon, everyone. It’s good to see you as always.

There is a longstanding controversy over the benefits of breast milk compared to the alternatives. The question becomes, is natural breast milk any more effective than the stuff that is mixed in a lab? Now, breast milk, if you know anything about it, I didn’t know much about it, I did a little research, but breast milk is very effective. It provides the ideal nutrition for babies. And it contains, as my research saw, as my research found, what they called a near-perfect mix of vitamins, proteins, and fats that a baby needs in order to be able to grow. Breast milk helps to boost the immune system. Think about a baby who’s just new to the world, all the different microbes and germs and things that the baby is exposed to.

Breast milk actually helps lower the risk of future ailments. Things such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, I was surprised to see that, obesity, and certain cancers. So, babies who drink in natural breast milk are less susceptible to those issues later in life. It also... Breast milk also helps with brain and nervous system development and eye development. So, for a baby to be able to think and to be able to move with the brain and nervous system, and even to be able to see, again, that’s boosted by taking in breast milk. Probably the most important, the most significant, and maybe the obvious thing that breast milk, the benefit for a baby is that it’s less harsh on their very gentle digestive systems, their intestines.

Thinking about what a baby’s very fragile body can handle, milk is much easier for the baby to be able to handle it. So that’s really one of several reasons why breast milk is considered as the perfect food for infants. And, of course, what God made is much better than the manmade stuff. Now, that same God that produced and created breast milk, that same God uses milk as a very powerful analogy to help us understand His truths, to understand the things of the scriptures. Babies need milk, and of course, we as God’s people also need milk. And even maturing Christians, we start out with milk, but eventually, of course, we must move on to meat in order to grow.

So today we’re going to look at the importance of going from the milk of God’s word to the meat of God’s word for spiritual nourishment and spiritual survival. Now, everyone that is listening to this message, all of you, all of us are at different points in our spiritual journey. We have some among us who are prospective members, people who are just coming into the Church, just maybe being exposed to God’s truths, or at least having just made a decision to come into the Church.

Of course, we have those who are recently baptized. Those who PMs studied the truths, recognized and realized that this is God’s Church. They decided to get baptized, and they’re at the front end of their journey. We have people among us who’ve been in the Church for several years. Maybe you’ve gone through a few Passovers, you’ve attended several feasts. You’ve gone through some years of developing and being a Christian.

And, of course, we have those who have been in the Church for several decades. They’ve seen the Church for a long, long time, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty years, if not more, in God’s truth. So, we are all brethren. We’re all at different levels, but the one thing, the one thing that we have in common is that we all have to eat, we all have to continue to take in spiritual nourishment, to take in spiritual food. Otherwise, we will die. If a person doesn’t eat physically, they die. Just the same, if a person doesn’t eat spiritually, they die. Some in the audience are exclusively on milk, and that’s right where you should be. And your primary diet is the spiritual milk of God’s word. Some in the audience are, or should be, primarily on spiritual meat. As you listen today, as we go through this today, think about where you’re supposed to be, and think about where you’re supposed to be as far as God is concerned. Think about that. If you’re at the milk stage, don’t try to jump into meat. If you should be at meat, don’t get stuck on the milk. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but as you listen today, I want you to be sure to take that into consideration.

Now, back to this subject of babies. It’s interesting that when we come into the Church, we are called babes in Christ. Turn to First Peter, chapter two. First Peter, chapter two. Come into the Church, you hears someone who’s maybe new. “Oh, that’s a babe in Christ.” It’s an interesting way to put that one. First Peter, chapter two. We’re going to pick it up at verse one. First Peter, chapter two, verse one. “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby.”

Now that word babe, I always smile when I see that babe. It’s kind of a funny word, but babe just means baby. Just like we would say baby today. Like in the King James or with the King James they said babe. For instance, hold your hand here in First Peter, chapter two, and go back to Luke. Go to Luke chapter two, Luke chapter two. We’re going to read something here fairly familiar, but just to make my point.

Luke chapter two, verse sixteen. Luke two, sixteen, “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” There once again we see this word babe. It simply means baby. It’s just the King James translators. The language of that time was babe, but when I hear and think of baby, it just sounds a lot more comfortable, a lot more familiar. As we go throughout, I may say babe, I may say baby, but I mean baby, and that’s the picture I want us to have.

Back to First Peter, chapter two. Peter told us that, as newborn babies, we need the sincere milk of the word in order to grow. Now, it’s funny that an adult can be called a baby. We know what an adult is, and we know what a baby is, but we have these adults and adults being called babies. Second Corinthians chapter five. Second Corinthians chapter five, let’s take a look there. Second Corinthians chapter five, we’ll read verse seventeen. Second Corinthians five, seventeen. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: or new creation, old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”

One of the reasons that we’re called babies, brethren, one of the reasons we’re called babies is because conversion for us is a new beginning. You think about a baby, a baby is a new human being coming into the world. When we are converted, when we become converted, for us it is a new beginning. We are like, in an analogy, analogous to a baby. We are a new creation, just like a new human baby who is a new creation. As the verse said, old things, old way of thinking, old ways of thinking, of acting, attitudes, perspectives, all those things, brethren, become new. It’s a fresh start. It’s a clean slate. Our past sins are forgiven. It’s like being a baby, a new baby in the world.

Now, I don’t want us to get confused. Being a babe or a baby in Christ, a new creation is different than being born again. This is what confuses the world. They think, “Oh, I’m a born-again Christian,” not understanding that we cannot be born again in this life. So, the analogies are similar, but they’re very, very different. Go to First John chapter five. First John chapter five. To be more correct, we are begotten as newborn or as new Christians, as babes or babies in Christ. We are begotten, not born.

First John chapter five. Big difference. First John five, eighteen. First John five, eighteen. “We know that whosoever is born of God sins not; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not.” Big difference. Nicodemus and Christ had an interesting discussion about being born again, where Christ went on to explain that when we’re born again, we’re changed. We’re like wind. We become spirit. We get new bodies.

As a begotten Christian, we’re still developing. We’re still developing in our mother’s womb. To stick with that analogy. So, understand that as we discuss being a baby, it’s an analogy toward Christian growth. The goal for any baby, in this case, spiritually speaking, is, or physically, it applies to both, the goal for any baby is to grow, is to not remain a baby. And in part, a way to grow is to take in spiritual nourishment, to take in that special diet that is perfectly formulated and put together for a baby to be able to grow. This special diet comes in the form of milk.

First Corinthians chapter three. First Corinthians chapter three, verse two. First Corinthians chapter three, verse two. This is Paul. “I have fed you with milk, and not meat: for hitherto, you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able.” Babies need milk when they are young. They can’t handle meat. Imagine giving a baby a slab of meat. The baby would not be able to take it in. It’s such a powerful way to paint the point, to make the point.

Babies can’t handle meat. They can only handle milk. And where does that milk come from? Well, that milk comes from the mother. That breast milk, that food, comes from the mother. When we’re young in the faith, we also need milk from our mother. You see the picture that’s being painted. The Church has long understood that, who is our mother? The Church is our mother. God is our Father, and the Church is our mother.

Galatians four twenty-two through twenty-six talks about Jerusalem above the mother of us all. It’s a great thing to study, to remind yourself of, but it goes through and proves, those verses help prove that the Church is our mother. Again, God is our Father. Every baby, spiritually, physically, has a mother and a father. So as babies in Christ, it’s no different. Milk, spiritual milk comes from the mother. So, there’s meat, for that matter, all food. You think about a mom, so many moms around the world who prepare food for their babies to feed their babies.

You know, God picked a wonderful way to explain and describe the spiritual food that we all have to take in. So, a mother prepares food for us to eat, and the milk as well as the meat of doctrine is taught by the Church our spiritual mother. So, when we are babies or begotten sons and daughters in Christ, we are developing in the womb of the Church, going on to eventually be, if we don’t fall away, to eventually be born again and to become God.

So, our spiritual mother, the teachings of the Church, our spiritual mother is done through the ministry. Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four. As we continue building here, Ephesians chapter four. This food is laid out, distributed through the ministry, as we’ll see here, Ephesians chapter four, verse twelve. That’s actually starting in verse eleven. “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Why? “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

So, this milk and meat, as we’ll eventually talk about, but this milk is provided by the Church, our mother, through the ministry. Seeing how it works? Without milk, we can’t survive. Without milk... In fact, let’s keep reading here. Verse thirteen, “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God, unto to a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we hence for be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

Without the milk of the word, without the very basic doctrines of the Church, we can be unstable as babies. Think about how vulnerable a baby is. We could be easily manipulated; we could be easily deceived if we don’t have that milk that comes from a mother. It’s very important. And as babies, we have to accept that milk. You know, most babies are too young to know to refuse milk. But imagine a baby rejecting the milk of its mother. Imagine that. Imagine a baby, you know, the mother goes to feed that baby who’s hungry, crying baby, the mother goes to feed that baby and the baby refuses to take the milk. It’s hard to even think about how something like that is possible.

Even more colorful, imagine as a child going up to your mother and saying, “You know what? I don’t want any of the food that you made for me. I don’t want any of that food that you cooked,” or “I’m complaining I don’t like what you made for me. I don’t like what you’re feeding me.” Imagine a child going up to a mother and saying that. It’s not going to go well. It’s probably not going to go well. I wouldn’t recommend you try it. Why? Because that mother, her job is to prepare and to serve the food for that baby or for that child to take in. A child is in no position to tell his mother or her mother what they will or will not do. Now, parents today, they’re different, but that’s not the way it should be.

Brethren, we should likewise be very careful, very careful of complaining or refusing the diet, the things that are prepared by our spiritual mother, the things prepared by the Church given through God’s ministry in order for us to eat, for us to take in. We want to be very careful like that child who we couldn’t imagine going up to the mother and saying, “Look, you know what? I don’t want any of that food that you made me.” We want to be very careful of doing that.

Now, hope there’s not people doing that. And if so, that there are very few. And if you are, if that’s ever happened, something to consider when you think about the fact that the Church is our mother, the ministry is responsible for preparing the diet of the Church, and it’s something that we as God’s children must take in, the things that we must eat. It’s very important to fully understand and digest the milk doctrines of the scriptures.

Now, what are the doctrines that are considered milk? What are they? Go to Hebrews chapter six. Hebrews chapter six. Let’s begin to take a look at some of these doctrines that are considered milk. Hebrews chapter six. It’s interesting that these scriptures do name several of these doctrines that are considered milk. Hebrews chapter six, we’ll start to dig in here. We’ll read several verses.

Hebrews six chapter six, verse one, “Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on into perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine 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. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift,” you see tasted there, it’s an interesting way to put that, “Tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.

If they should fall away,” it is impossible, it’s saying, “If they should fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Wow, that is powerful. Imagine crucifying Christ again. You’re aware of it, his crucifixion, you know what it stood for and knew what it meant. Despite that, you know what? I’m going to crucify him again. No one in their right mind would do something like that. But what it’s saying is that if we reject or walk away from the taste of the good word and having been enlightened, those are the consequences.

Now, how do we know that these doctrines are spiritual meat? Let’s stay here in Hebrews and just look at Hebrews five twelve, just above it there, Hebrews five twelve. “For the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God.” We just read about these principles that goes on in chapter six to talk about these very principles. “And are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat.”

We’re seeing that these new... that these foundational doctrines for a new Christian are referred to as milk. They’re foundational for a new Christian, and of course, experienced Christian because it’s the foundation for a new Christian. It goes without saying yet I’ll say it, that those basic milk doctrines are at the foundation for experienced Christians. That’s the point of that. It’s saying that, when Paul goes on to say that if we fall away or walk away from those things, as a new or experienced Christian, we crucify the son of God again. Something we don’t want to do.

We’ll just take a little time here to review some of these milk doctrines, and as we go through them, understand the world, in most cases, are blown away or completely confused about these doctrines that God calls milk. You think about milk. Okay, that’s for babies, but the world is confused or blown away. I was blown away as I came into the Church by these doctrines that God simply calls milk. We don’t want that to be lost on us.

The first milk doctrine we have here, it talks about repentance from dead works. Let’s go to Matthew chapter three. Matthew chapter three, repentance from dead works. I’m just going to spot through, go through these doctrines. As I mentioned early on, as we go through, for some of you who are new, these milk doctrines are very fresh to you and others who’ve been around a while. These are obviously things you want to be aware of as well, but Matthew chapter three. We’re going to take a look at the first milk doctrine as named by Paul, repentance from dead works.

Matthew chapter three, verse two. Matthew chapter three, verse two. “Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” You think about that. That was John the Baptist speaking. Let’s go over to Matthew chapter four, verse seventeen. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We see from both John, and the first recorded words here of Christ’s ministry, they include the word repent, and God decided to start very basic, repent. Repent means to change. And in this case, change from what? Dead works.

Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. Repent or change from dead works. Galatians five, verse nineteen. Galatians five nineteen. What are those dead works? Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, partying and such like.” That’s quite a list, but the list could be even longer, “and such like of which I tell you before, as I’ve told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Remember, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Change. Change from what? Dead works. If you change from these dead works, you have the opportunity to be in the kingdom of God. Very basic, milk. Easily understood.

Acts chapter three. Acts chapter three. As new Christians, we learned that these dead works, that list we went through could have been longer, those works can keep us out of the kingdom of God. Acts chapter three. As we begin to understand that our minds started to change, our thinking started to change. Acts chapter three, verse nineteen. “Repent ye therefore, and...” What? “Be converted.” Change. Repent and be converted. Why? “That your sins may be blotted out, when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

When we change, when we’re converted, what happens? Our past sins are blotted out. The slate is made clean. We get a fresh start. We can now move forward with a clean conscience. That was the point. That was the point of repentance from dead works. That’s why Paul, when he listed the milk doctrine, started with that. Then he went on to the next milk doctrine, which is faith toward God.

What is faith? Heard about that faith in a recent message. What is faith? Hebrews eleven, commonly called faith chapter. Hebrews chapter eleven. What is Faith? Paul talks about the next milk doctrine as faith toward God. Hebrews chapter eleven, verse one. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is believing something, even if we don’t actually see it, even if we haven’t experienced it with our senses.

Drop down to verse six. Hebrews eleven, six, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: to please God. For he that comes to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Who work at it. It’s important to them.

As Christians, we must have faith in order to please God. Why is God pleased by that? Why is God pleased by believing something that we haven’t seen? Well, how do you feel when someone believes you or takes you at your word? You tell them something and they believe you? You don’t have to necessarily show them everything in order for them to believe you, they trust you. They believe that what you’re telling them is true. How do you feel when someone simply takes you at your word? Well, that’s the same way with God.

I have not seen God. I’ve not personally seen God. You have not personally seen God with your own eyes, yet I believe that He exists. I believe, I have the faith that if I diligently seek God, that He will reward me for that. You’re no different. That’s something you have to believe. That’s something you have to have faith in. And if we do that, brethren, God is pleased.

John five. John five. Faith toward God. John chapter five. We talked about God being a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. John five, verse twenty-four. “Truly, truly, I say unto you, he that hears my word, and believes on him,” believes on the Father, this is Christ speaking, “He that hears my word, and believes on the Father that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but he passes from death to life.” God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. But brethren, we have to believe that.

First of all, we have to believe that He exists, that He is, and of course, that He will reward us if we seek him diligently. Belief in God leads to eternal life. We were dead in sins. Remember the old man, the old things that are passed away. We were dead in sins, but we eventually became begotten babies, we have a chance at eternal life. So that’s just two points of the milk doctrines.

Now it’s time for us to take action. We’ve repented, we’ve changed, and then we have faith. Now we have to take action on the things that we believe, and that’s the next milk doctrine from Mark sixteen. Let’s go to Mark sixteen. This is the doctrine of baptisms. Mark chapter sixteen. Now it’s time to act on that faith. Mark sixteen verse sixteen. Mark sixteen, sixteen, “He that believes,” interesting, “and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be condemned or damned.” So, it’s not enough, brethren, to simply believe God or say we believe God.

If we believe him, we have to do something about it. We have to act on the faith that we claim to have, in this case, that act is baptism. Being baptized. Baptism is an outward show of what we say we believe. It’s not a coincidence that when we’re baptized, we do it in front of witnesses. There are witnesses there. We don’t just baptize ourselves alone at home in a tub and send an email and say, “Okay, I baptized myself. All done.” No, it’s something we do in front of witnesses. There’s a ceremony attached to it. There are things that are said about it. Things that are done. It’s an outward show of what we believe, but it symbolizes so much more.

Romans chapter six. Romans chapter six. Baptism, of course, is an outward show of our faith, of our belief, the fact that we’ve repented and changed, but it’s so much more. Romans six, verse three. Romans six three, “Know you not, that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Remember the old man died. We read about that. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. We were renewed and then begotten. That clean slate. We were buried in Christ. Like Christ died and was buried and was resurrected and raised up, we have the opportunity to be raised up as well and we can walk in newness of life. So, baptism symbolizes a burial as well as a cleansing. It’s in water. We bathe in water. So, it symbolizes a burial, a cleansing. It’s an act of our faith.

Serves yet another purpose. First Corinthians chapter twelve, and notice it said the doctrine of baptisms. Think about all the different things that baptism is tied to. Renewal, cleansing, and here’s yet another one. First Corinthians chapter twelve. First Corinthians chapter twelve, thirteen, “For by one spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentile, bond or free; we’ve all been made to drink into one spirit.” We were baptized, brethren. When we’re baptized, we’re baptized into the body of Christ. So, we are officially made a part of the spiritual body of Christ.

We are now one of those called out ones, the Church members of God’s Church, a member of God’s Church, and we’re a part of that brotherhood, that body. All the blessings, the challenges, all the things that go along with being a part of the Church, we are now a part of that. We are begotten children who have drink into one spirit. That’s just three milk doctrines.

Think about how powerful this stuff is, but the next one is the laying on of hands. Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter eight, the laying on of hands. By the way, this is another reason why baptism on our own in a tub at home won’t work as we’ll see here. Acts chapter eight, fourteen, “Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: and they came down,” as it goes on to say, and some had not yet received the Holy Spirit.

We drop down to verse seventeen, “They laid their hands on them,” and what happened? “They received the Holy Spirit.” So, you have a person is baptized. If you’ve seen a baptism ceremony, you remember your own baptism ceremony, after you were buried in the water and raised and came up, that minister or those ministers laid hands on you.

Why? In order to receive the Holy Spirit. The laying on of hands does a couple of things. One, it shows the government of God. It illustrates the government of God. God’s spirit is given by the Father.

He gives out his spirit, but the Father doesn’t come down and personally all alone give you, his Spirit. No, He does it through his government, through his ministry. That ministry, the case of during baptism, lays hands on the member and prays and asks God for you to receive his spirit.

Think about God’s government. The Father is at the top. Christ is next. He’s the head of the Church and then there’s His ministry. We read about the different ranks within the ministry. But the father distributes His power. He distributes that power through human hands, and that shows the significance of His government. It also shows that God works through flesh. This all-powerful, almighty God who created the universe, who sits and stands at the top of everything, still works through flesh. Human leaders are an important part of God’s plan in working with mankind.

James chapter five. James chapter five. There’s the laying on of hands for receiving the Holy Spirit, but we will see another purpose in James chapter five. James five, verse fourteen. James five fourteen, “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” What happens when a person is anointed? That minister places oil on that member’s forehead and then lays his hands on that person and ask God to heal him or her.

Once again, we see the power of God working through human hands. That’s significant. It shows members of the Church. It shows the entire world. Think about the message within that, that this almighty, all-powerful God is working through human hands, and more particularly, through the hands of those who are His representatives, His government. Anointing, just that process of anointing, it keeps the ministry in touch with the membership and it keeps the membership in touch with the ministry. And that’s just one doctrine and thinking about the laying on of hands, in this case, in order to be healed.

Now, the next milk doctrine is resurrection of the dead. Now, I would say, if, you know, the milk had certain levels, you know, I’m not a milk expert, but, you know, maybe milk that’s more fortified. I personally think this next one is just that, resurrection of the dead. Now, what do I mean when I say that? Acts chapter twenty-six. Acts chapter twenty-six. We’re going to look at Paul, he’s on trial, and he’s talking to King Agrippa. Acts twenty-six.

Now, we’re still talking milk here, but this is... maybe that’s a milkshake. It’s just pretty thick. It’s pretty interesting. Let’s go there, Acts twenty-six. Just one question, but it sets up my point. Acts twenty-six, verse eight, this is Paul responding to Agrippa, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?” Agrippa, why is it so incredible? Why is it so hard for you to believe and understand? And not just you king, but all of you who are under the sound of my voice, why is it so challenging for you to understand that God can raise the dead?

Now, in defense of king of Agrippa, that is something that is kind of unbelievable. You know, a person dies and they’re lying there. They’re in bed, they just died, or in the casket, or in the grave, you’re telling me that God can raise that person up again? Well, Paul is saying, why is that so difficult for you to believe? One of the most difficult or challenging things to understand or believe is that God will resurrect people from the dead, [silence] but it shouldn’t be so difficult for us to believe God gave life in the first place. Is He somehow unable to give life again? He gave life once. Can He not give life again?

Resurrection surprises people, but it shouldn’t. God’s been talking about this for thousands of years. Daniel chapter twelve. Daniel chapter twelve. God’s been talking about resurrection for thousands of years. Daniel twelve verse two. This is a prophecy. Daniel twelve, two, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth,” that means they’re dead. “...many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Death to God, he’s making it sound like the person is simply asleep. We were all asleep last night. And, what, we woke up. Well, God is saying that dead people at various levels of decomposure are going to eventually awake. They’re going to wake up again. They’re going to be alive again. God can give life to the lifeless. He has the power over life and death. There is no need to fear death.

Think about it. Christ died and was resurrected. That was simply an example. And God is saying we can be just like that. Let’s go to First Corinthians Chapter fifteen. First Corinthians Chapter fifteen. Brethren, if there is no resurrection of the dead, what is the point of all this? What is the point of what we’re doing? Why are we here? Now, that may sound jarring to you, but let’s read this. It actually should sound familiar. First Corinthians Chapter fifteen. If there’s no resurrection of the dead, what is the point? What is the point? First Corinthians fifteen, we’ll pick it up at verse thirteen. We’ll read several verses here. This is all about resurrection. First Corinthians... Excuse me.

Yes. First Corinthians fifteen. We’ll pick it up at verse thirteen. Okay. First Corinthians fifteen... All right, let’s start at verse twelve. “Now, if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” So that’s the subject. “But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.” If there is no resurrection, then that means this whole narrative, this whole thing about Christ being raised from the dead is false. “And if Christ be not risen,” verse thirteen, “...then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.” Yes.

“And we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified that He raised Christ.” He raised up Christ. “Whom He raised not up if it be that the dead rise not.” So if this whole thing about resurrection of the dead, if this is false, if this is something that we simply made up, then this whole thing about Jesus Christ being raised from the dead and cleansing your sins and all of that, that’s all false, and your faith is built on nothing. We’re wasting our time. That’s what he’s saying. “For if the dead rise not, then is Christ not raised? And if Christ not raised, your faith is in vain,” as I read, “...and you are yet in your sins.” Even more significant.

“Then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” Those who are in the ground are going to stay there. They’re never coming back if there is no resurrection of the dead. “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” What is the point? What is the point? God is, in fact, going to resurrect us and change our vile bodies to look like His glorious body. That’s what the doctrine of resurrection of the dead is all about. If he’s not going to do that, then, brethren, what’s the point? What are we doing? What are we doing? Of course, we know that He is. We’re counting on it. I’m counting on it. You’re counting on it.

The last milk doctrine on the list is eternal judgment. Ecclesiastes Chapter twelve. Ecclesiastes Chapter twelve. Take a look here. Ecclesiastes Chapter twelve, verse fourteen. Ecclesiastes twelve, fourteen. Last verse in the book. “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.” Brethren, there are consequences for our actions, good or bad. You know, here are consequences for our action, but good ones. There’s good ones, too, but there’s also, of course, bad consequences.

And the thing is, God doesn’t have to go run an investigation, send out, you know, a private investigator to figure out what happened. God sees the secret things. He knows exactly what happened. He knows exactly all the facts, all the evidence. God has it all. He knows our secrets. Second Corinthians Chapter five. Second Corinthians Chapter five. This idea of eternal judgment. Second Corinthians Chapter five, verse ten. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in His body according to that He hath done, whether it be good or whether it be bad.” We all know what it means to stand before a judge.

Maybe some of us have experienced that. We’ve seen it in movies, television, on the news. When you stand before a judge, the judge looks at the evidence and makes a decision. He decides whether the person is guilty or not guilty. The evidence in this case is our actions, brethren. It’s our actions, and not just us, everyone in the entire world. The evidence is our actions. We’re going to be judged, however. We’re going to be judged differently than the world. Why? Because we’re going to be judged on what we knew. The more you know, then the more is expected of you. The less you know, the less is expected.

But eternity talks about eternal judgment. Eternity is something we must all face, whether it’s eternal life or eternal death, and that puts it in perspective. It very much puts it in perspective, brethren. It should motivate us. “Do I want eternal life? Do I want to avoid eternal death?” You know, saying the same thing a different way. But that should motivate us. Eternity? That’s a long time. It’s a long, long time. Each of the milk doctrines, brethren, we just went over them quickly. I could have said much, much more about each of them, but each of them, whether it’s repentance, faith, faith in God, baptism, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, or eternal judgment, these are significant doctrines that theologians puzzle over, that the world puzzles over.

Yet God calls them milk. These are the things that spiritual babies are expected to know and expected to take in and expected to benefit from. These are the very beginning of Christianity. They’re at the start of Christianity. But, brethren, like all babies, man, as important as those doctrines are, like all babies, we eventually have to grow up. We can’t get stuck there. Let’s go back to Hebrews Chapter five. Hebrews Chapter five. As significant, as important, and I tried to passionately explain each of those doctrines, and perhaps as I went through them, you had flashbacks, remembering going through in and learning and how excited you were, in some cases, you’re still learning them, how excited you are.

But we can’t get stuck there. And Paul, as we’ll see in Hebrews five, as a loving Shepherd, he was forced to challenge the brethren. The brethren needed to be challenged. Hebrews Chapter five, verse twelve. Hebrews five, twelve. We read a little bit about this, but we’ll continue here. “For when for the time you ought to be teachers,” so, you know, a teacher is someone who’s advanced, “...you have need that one teach you again, which be of the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk and not strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a baby.” So Paul is challenging the brethren. Some were not growing as they should.

They should have been further along than they were. Verse fourteen. “But strong meat belongs to them which are a full age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” This verse talks about discernment. Discernment requires a certain spiritual maturity. Growing up spiritually, not being stuck on the foundational things. The group within the group of who he was speaking to were people who were not where they should have been. Now, it couldn’t have meant everyone. It couldn’t have meant everyone. Remember, I talked about this, that my audience is composed of PMs. We got people who are new to the faith, people who are on milk and should be.

And it would be no different then, there are people coming along all the time. There were people coming along and advancing throughout the Church, new people, et cetera. But he was saying, “Some of you, however, are not growing like you should. You should be much further along.” And it’s no different today. Hence the message, the reason for the message. But the group that he was talking to, some in that group, their growth was stunted. Brethren has different trials and things that we have to deal with come, there’s a need for us to be strong. We have to grow up, we have to be way more mature. We have to understand what we’ve gotten into.

Now, the point of this, he’s saying, “Okay, some of you should be on meat, and you’re stuck on milk.” And I just want to throw this in, the tendency can be like, “Oh, well,” you know, we can find ourselves almost despising milk. Like, “Oh, I don’t need milk. That’s for babies. I’m a spiritual adult. I don’t need that.” Well, that’s not the point. That’s not the point. Remember, if we walk away from the milk, then we crucify the Son of God afresh. The milk is very important. It’s not this idea of just dismissing or discounting the milk. It’s just understanding that there are deeper, more advanced things from God that we have to make sure that we’re exposed to.

So the point is not to help us, to make us try to grow up too fast. If we’re on milk, then that’s where we should be. But if we should be more advanced, if we should be taking in meat, then we certainly want to make sure we’re doing that as well. So what are some of the strong meat that Paul was referring to? Right. You’re still here in Hebrews Chapter five. So we saw there, it talked about strong meat. See there in verse twelve, you see it in verse fourteen. Hebrews five, twelve; five, fourteen, strong meat. What does that mean? Strong meat, when you look into it, just means stiff or solid food. So you think about a baby with milk.

With a strong meat, it’s solid food. It’s stiff food. It’s food that you have to chew on. You don’t have to chew milk, but it’s food you have to chew on a while in order to break it down. And there’s certain things in the word of God that are more considered things you got to chew on for a while. They’re stiff, they don’t go down as easy as milk goes down. Now, I could summarize this strong meat of the word in many different ways. I’ll summarize it in a few different ways. The first one is what I would call things that are hard to understand. Second Peter Chapter three, Second Peter Chapter three, things that are hard to understand.

Brethren, this is the thing that most people think about when they think about the strong meat of the word. They think about things that are hard to understand. Second Peter Chapter three, right, verse sixteen, Second Peter Chapter three, verse sixteen. “As also in all his epistles,” talking about Paul’s epistles, “...speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction.” So there are some things in the Bible, brethren, that are hard to understand. That should actually give you some relief. Sometimes you can read something and you look at it and, “You know what, I don’t understand that.”

And some people mistakenly, instead of simply pursuing it and trying to understand, they beat themselves up and think, “If I don’t understand this, then somehow I’m not a Christian,” or, “Somehow God is not working with me.” No, that’s not the case. It’s telling us that some things are hard to be understood. Don’t be discouraged, don’t be discouraged. Some things are simply strong meat. They’re stiff, you got to chew on it a while. Isaiah twenty-eight. Isaiah twenty-eight. Familiar verses that talk about why some things in the scriptures are difficult to understand. Isaiah twenty-eight, I remind us of this, brethren, so we can be patient with ourselves, not beat ourselves up.

Isaiah twenty-eight, verse nine, “Whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?” We’re talking about doctrine. “Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.” And it goes on to talk about stammering lips, another tongue. Verse thirteen, “But the word was unto them precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken.”

The Bible is written in a way, here a little, there a little, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept. It’s not a book that you can read from beginning to end necessarily and get a full understanding. You have to go here a little, you have to go there a little. It’s written here, it’s written there, it’s written here, it’s written there. It’s written that way. And it can be very confusing. But think about all the things that we’ve learned recently and just over the decades, all the things that we learned that were written here a little, there a little. Think about the age of the Earth.

If you simply read it from Genesis and just read it through, you think, “Okay, the Earth is...” and you look at all the genealogies, “Oh, the earth is about six-thousand years old.” Well, no, that’s not the case at all. The Earth is upwards of millions of years old. Oh, maybe even billions of years. It’s just talking about the time that men were here on the Earth. That’s written here a little, there a little. Think about the Father being revealed in the Old Testament, or when are the last days, or how many iterations there are in the kingdom, or that the new heavens and the new Earth are before the Millennium. All those things, brethren, were written here a little, there a little.

And they can be kind of hard to chew on and a little stiff. You got to be able to take it in. But remember, when it’s stiff, when it’s hard to take in, your mother is here to help. Hebrews thirteen. Hebrews thirteen. Your mother who prepared that food is here to help you. We can’t get away from that analogy. Hebrews Chapter thirteen, verse seven. Hebrews thirteen, seven, “Remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation or their conduct.” To avoid confusion, to help the food go down better, to be able to digest it better, stick to what’s taught.

If you don’t fully understand it, don’t dismiss it and not believe it. Just simply say, “You know what? I don’t fully understand it. Let me try to understand.” James gives us great advice. James Chapter one. James Chapter one. We’re right here. Verse nineteen, James one, nineteen. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren,” here’s the advice. “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” No need to get frustrated if something’s not quite clear, you don’t fully understand it at first or even after a little while. “Be swift to hear, slow to speak.” Take it in, try and understand. We’re the students, we’re the children. The Church is the mother.

The goal, brethren, is for us to all be on the same page, to be unified, of the same mind, of the same judgment, walking together doctrinally and otherwise. So that’s the traditionally what people think of when they think of strong meat, it’s things that are hard to understand. But a less thought of element of going from milk to meat is knowing how to apply scriptures. “How do I apply this scripture or this principle?” Recall, Paul talked about having senses exercised to discern good and evil, this idea of discernment. John seven. John seven. John Chapter seven, verse twenty-four. John seven, twenty-four. “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

So often, we can make the mistake of judging things according to how they look or jumping to conclusions, going by simply what we see or our feelings or our emotions, and not realizing that righteous judgment can be difficult. But it requires applying verses and scripture spiritual principles. And that comes with spiritual maturity. When we’re new, we may not be able to do that as well. It’s important for us to seek counsel and to get help. But eventually, brethren, we have to be able to apply these spiritual principles as we become more mature, as we begin to take on more meat and to be able to receive more meat.

For instance, I’ll just give an example we come across from time to time. I hear about it in the ministry and see it. When do you go or just count on God to heal you versus going to a doctor and seeking medical intervention? That’s not necessarily a milk moment. That could be very much a meat moment. “Do I simply wait for God to heal me, and He promises to heal, He’s a healer. I trust, and I have faith in God. Or do I go to a doctor and seek medical attention and medical help? What do I do?” The Bible talks about being anointed for healing. Does that mean all doctors are evil? I hope not. I just had a doctor’s appointment, I guess I have to repent.

I mean, we have to know how and when, brethren, to apply certain principles and things of God, and that takes counsel. But it also takes the meat and the spiritual maturity to be able to understand it. And making judgements requires exercising discernment. Let’s take a look at another one that could be a challenge, Romans Chapter twelve. Romans Chapter twelve. The spiritual meat of knowing how to apply God’s principles to a certain situation. Romans Chapter twelve, verse one. Romans twelve, one, “I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

So, as Christians, we all know that we have to sacrifice. But how do we know we’re sacrificing enough? The Bible says we have to be living sacrifices. How do we know we’re doing it enough? Is there a certain level of sacrifice or service that is acceptable or unacceptable? Are you sacrificing to the point where other things are falling apart? Your prayer, your study, your relationships, your health. “But I’m serving, I’m sacrificing.” But are you doing it in balance? Or are you in the name of, “Well, I don’t want other things to fall apart,” not sacrificing at all? Those things require judgment. They require applying the meat of the principles of God’s word.

Galatians five. Galatians five. You notice I can’t answer for you whether you’re sacrificing enough. Only you know that and God knows that. I can’t answer that for you. You must sacrifice. We must sacrifice. But how much is too much? How much is too little? That’s a decision you have to come to, a conclusion you have to come to. Galatians Chapter five, verse thirteen. “For, brethren, you have been called into liberty. Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love, serve one another.” Are you serving enough? “Am I serving too much? Am I serving too little?” That’s something, brethren, only you can answer.

Those are the things in the Bible that are not black and white. They’re much more gray. And so much of judgment comes down to seeing the gray, the things that are not always easy to discern. Mature Christians know how to do that. You’ll see a new person, and you love them, and they’re on fire. But if they’re not careful, they burn themselves out because, “I want to serve, and I want to sacrifice, and I want to do all those things.” And that’s a wonderful attitude to have. But when you start to settle in and you start to really realize, “Wait a minute. I can’t sustain this. I can’t keep this up.” Now, that is not saying that we shouldn’t serve. That is not saying that we shouldn’t sacrifice. Of course, that’s not the point.

But we have to know, of course, how to apply it. And that’s where maturity and counsel come in. And God doesn’t abandon us when it comes to making these decisions. Proverbs Chapter three, Proverbs Chapter three. It’s like, “What do I do? What do I do? How do I know I’m serving enough? How do I know I’m sacrificing enough? How do I know I’m doing the other things of God that aren’t written black and white?” Proverbs Chapter three, verse five. Proverbs Chapter three, verse five, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him.” And what will he do?

“He shall direct your paths.” God will show you, He will reveal to you what to do if you trust Him. If you don’t lean on your own thinking, if you acknowledge Him in all your ways, if I do that, God will tell us what to do. He’ll tell us the right amount of service. He’ll tell us the right amount of sacrifice. He’ll tell us how to make that judgment. “Should I make this purchase? Should I not make this purchase? When should I make it?” God will lead us and guide us through all of that. So many times, brethren... and you’ve been there, so many times I know what to do because I’ve simply felt comfortable. The comforter, the Holy Spirit, the comforter in me gives me comfort.

When I’m discomforted, when I’m uncomfortable with a situation, the onus is therefore on me to seek through the scriptures, through counsel, to seek comfort. And if at all possible, unless I’m comfortable, don’t make the decision. Don’t make the decision. There are exceptions. But that’s where counsel comes in. That’s where going to God and trusting Him comes in. That’s where not simply being on the milk of the word and getting into the strong meat comes into play as a mature Christian. A final element of going from milk to meat is applying it to the deeper spiritual things that we come across, the spiritual challenges that we face, whether it’s personal or interpersonal relationships.

Mature meat-eating Christians, if I could put it that way, know how to deal with those things. Ephesians Chapter four. Ephesians Chapter four. We’re looking at having a proper attitude, having a proper attitude. Ephesians Chapter four, verse twenty-nine. Ephesians Chapter four, verse twenty-nine, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.” It’s interesting that he’s saying, “Let not corrupt communication come out of your mouth.” Well, who’s the audience? He’s talking to Christians. He’s talking to us.

It says here, “The Holy Spirit. Grieve not the Holy Spirit.” It goes on to say, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.” This is Christians that we’re talking about? Yes, it can happen. It can happen. We can find ourselves facing and dealing with a bad attitude, a poor attitude. Brethren, we should be easy to get along with. Do we have our moments? Yes, yes, we do. I have mine. But overall, we should be easy to get along with, easily entreated. People shouldn’t see us coming and say, “You know what? I want to go to the other way.” No, they should welcome us when we come.

That should be how people respond and react to us. Mature Christians apply the scriptures to avoid that bitterness, avoid that anger and avoid that evil speaking. We’re all susceptible to it. But the principles, the scriptures, the Bible helps us to avoid those things. Another deeper thing we have to deal with is correction, Hebrews Chapter twelve. Hebrews Chapter twelve. Dealing with correction. Hebrews twelve, verse eleven. Hebrews twelve, verse eleven. Just jump into the context here.

Hebrews twelve, eleven, “Now, no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore, lift up your hands which hang down and the feeble knees. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled.” Brethren, I’m not the hugest fan of correction. Actually, I don’t like the process.

I love the outcome, but the process it talks about, it’s not joyous but grievous. But what mature Christians, Christians who are able to accept the meat of God’s word, they understand that correction must come, and they avoid a root of bitterness springing up in them. Correction and bitterness have been the downfall of way too many of God’s people over the centuries. Way too many of God’s people got corrected, got bitter, and left. They, in effect, poured out the milk of God’s word, all those wonderful things we talked about, they poured it out and simply walked away all because they got corrected. It’s a shame. It’s a shame because what did they do?

They crucified the Son of God afresh all because someone corrected them despite being warned not to do it. It can happen. It can happen. Finally, there’s being wrongly accused. Wrongly accused. First Peter Chapter two, being wrongly accused or suffering wrongfully. I put this here. This could be one of the most challenging things. You know, talk about being corrected, in many cases, people are corrected because of things they did. But First Peter Chapter two talks about suffering wrongfully. First Peter Chapter two, verse nineteen, “For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, we be buffeted for our faults.”

So if we did something, there’s no glory for that if we get buffeted for it. “You should take it patiently. But if, when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps.” Christ did not sin. There was no guile in His mouth, yet He suffered for it. It’s saying that we’re called, brethren, for that purpose. We are to be Christ-like. We are to follow in His steps. Mature meat level Christians understand that sometimes we suffer for doing well. We could suffer at work because we want to go to the feast.

We could suffer from an unconverted spouse because we want to tithe. A member of the Church, our brother, that person that we have spent so much time with and so much fellowship and sharing stories, can think we did something that we didn’t do. Well, what do we do? How do we react? Do we lash out? Do we go in attack mode or do we, as mature Christians, take it patiently just like Christ? Just like Christ. We, as mature Christians, we move along from milk, and we go on to the harder, deeper things of God. As we conclude the overall diet, brethren, as you’ve heard requires milk and meat. Both are definitely necessary.

Milk for the newbies, the babes in Christ. And occasionally for adults, I spent a good bit of time on the milk today.

And that’s because we, those of us who are maturing Christians, also can’t forget about the milk. I drink milk from time to time. But also there’s the meat for the adults, things that mature Christians must deal with and things that new people have to aspire to and want to be a part of. Never forget, brethren, never forget that the Church is our mother. The mother decides what we eat, not the children. That’s not our call. If it was up to the kids, we’d eat candy and ice cream all day. There’s nothing wrong with an occasional candy bar or a scoop of ice cream, but that can’t be the only thing we eat. It can’t be what children decide. It’s what the mother decides.

Brethren, if you find that something is hard for you to digest, that strong meat, that strong meat of correction, that strong meat of doctrine, that strong meat of just handling adversity, if you find that that’s difficult, hang in there. Hang in there. It’ll eventually go down if you keep chewing at it and stick with it. And at the same time, don’t despise the simple food. “Oh, baptisms. Oh, laying on of hands.” Oh, I dare not say that. I dare not say that. Remember, we were all new at one time. And those of you who are new are benefiting from these simple teachings as of those of us who are mature. Brethren, we must go from milk to meat, and we have to do it on God’s time. Not too fast, not too slow. Our goal is to grow spiritually and reach full spiritual maturity.