The Principles of the Oracles of God 2

The speaker discusses the issue of spiritual immaturity among Christians. They mention that many Christians have a lack of focus and passion for the word of God, leading to a dullness of hearing. They also highlight a dependency on pastors for spiritual nourishment and a tendency to stick to a diet of basic teachings instead of delving into deeper truths. The speaker emphasizes the importance of discernment and urges Christians to strengthen their ability to distinguish between good and evil. They suggest developing spiritual senses and substituting a diet of milk with strong meat, meaning delving into more profound teachings of the Bible. The speaker concludes by stressing the need for maturity in order to make wise decisions and navigate the complexities of life. span. We can't handle two hours. We can barely handle the one hour. And so why are we going to come and sit through Sunday school and worship service because of our lack of focus? The promise comes to the ear, but there's no passion of the heart. There's no embracing of our love. There's no cherishing or cherishing and treasuring. Therefore, there is no faith and no patience. We're fed up with it. We're tired of it because of our laziness of hearing. How many times do we hear, don't preach too long. You're past my attention span. You've gone past that. You know, we can't handle it anymore. But it's amazing how many people will go to the bathroom and then sit through a three, three and a half hour movie and never once blink or watch a four hour ball game and never have a problem with that. You see, we've got lazy when it comes to the word of God, there's this dullness of hearing. And Paul said that is a mark of immaturity. But not only is there the dullness of hearing, but there's also this dependency to be fed. In other words, we have become dependent upon the pastor. We have become dependent upon someone giving us the word of God one spoonful at a time. Look at what he says in verse 12. For when the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first oracles or first principles of the oracles of God and have become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. In other words, you would think by now we would have more teachers in the church. But it seems like we're constantly having to re-teach. We're constantly having to re-teach, re-focus, re-tail, re-do, re-go over this. We can never move on to something bigger and something greater. But not only is there the dependence of feeding, but we're also stuck in a diet for infants. Look at what he says in verse 12. He says, for when 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. And then notice what he says, and have become as one as such as needs what? The need of milk and not strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. And so notice what's happening here. He's saying to us that we have this dullness of hearing, a sign of immaturity. We're lazy. We don't want to spend the time or the effort in the word of God. We don't want to spend the time to dig and to look up. We have this tendency upon teaching. It's amazing that how many Christians today quote their teachers or pastors and very rarely ever quote the word of God. We quote books. We quote authors. But when do we quote the word of God? And then we find that not only the dependency upon teaching, but we're stuck in milk. We're stuck eating milk. We cannot handle strong meat. We cannot handle the deep things. If you bring up something deep or something in the word of God, then all of a sudden you get arguments. You get these discussions. You get people that get upset. But the last sign of immaturity that he mentions is this discernment of infants. Discernment of infants. Look at what he says. He says in verse 14, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Discern both good and evil. The first principles of the oracles of God. He says we need milk. In other words, those that need milk, they are unskillful in the word of righteousness. Now, you don't know the Bible. If you remember, Paul told Timothy to study, to show thyself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly divideth the word of truth. But the author says here that you're not an approved workman. You're still on milk. You still cannot handle the deeper things of God. And what happens when we start getting convicted of deeper things? We get mad. We get angry. We don't come back to church. We close our Bibles. We close our ears. We don't want to hear it. We don't want to discuss it. And then what do we do? We help build somebody else's church because we get mad and we leave our church and go to another church because we're infants. That's what babies do. Babies cannot discern good and evil until you instruct them and teach them. They don't know. They will take it and whatever's on the floor, what will they do? They don't know if it's good or bad, but guess where it's going to go? It's going to go in their mouth, right? Because they cannot discern. And that's what we have today. We have Christians. And listen, our churches is the backbone of our societies and our school systems. And if we cannot discern good and evil, then why in the world are we surprised when kids in school, when libraries, when all these types of things that are coming up and happening in our community, why are we shocked when they can't discern what is right and what is wrong? Folks, we need some mature Christians. We need some maturity in our lives. We need the ability to discern both good and evil. And I'm not talking about it's easy to discern the Ten Commandments, right? Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. We know these. They're listed out, right? Anybody with any type of sense or maturity at all can read these and know what's right and wrong. But do you know how many decisions that we make every single day that is not involved in the Ten Commandments? Do you realize how many decisions that we make every single day as far as our appearance? As far as our work ethic? As far as what about this? What about that? You know, and who's going to tell us? Who says it's right or wrong? It's not given in the Word of God. So what's going to lead us? What's going to help us make that decision? Maturity. Maturity. And man, we have so many even young preachers today. It just breaks my heart. These preachers, because of the Internet, they're following people that are no longer scriptural, that are no longer speaking the Word of God, but they're not mature enough to discern what is truth or what is bad. And they make this same statement. Well, you know what? I don't agree with everything that he says, but he's a good author, right? He's a heretic. God said if they're wrong in one thing, don't listen to nothing else. But we have so many people that are getting wrapped up with this. So what is the problem with immaturity? How do we fix that? How do we become mature? Well, look at what Paul says. He says in verse 1, Therefore, because you are immature, because I can't even explain to you about Melchizedek and the priesthood, because you are stuck with the priesthood happening with Moses. He says you're immature. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. He gives us three things that we need to do. Number one, we have to strengthen our discernment. Immaturity allows us not to be able to discern between good and evil. So the opposite of that is we need to strengthen our discernment. How do we strengthen our discernment? Well, look at what he says in verse 14 of chapter 5. By your senses have exercised to discern both good and evil. What do we mean by our senses? In other words, we've taken the knowledge, we're taking things that we put in, and your senses begin to pick up on things that are not right and what is wrong. How many of you, because of the society we live in, how many of you do you pay a whole lot of extra attention when you're walking across the parking lot going into Wal-Mart? Do you pay attention to who you park by? If they're sitting in their vehicle or if they're not? Do you look around? See, if you're mature, you're paying attention to your surroundings. When Parker gets out of the vehicle, what's the first thing we've got to do? Grab my hand, because why? He doesn't realize the dangers that are out there. He doesn't realize the vehicles that are coming. Why? Because he's a child. He's a child. And so therefore, I have to, when he's under my care, I have to be extra elevated on what I see, what I hear, what I smell, what I taste. My senses are all over the place because I am required to take care of him. And so we need to make sure that our senses are developed. But notice what he does here also. Some of us need to substitute our diets. In other words, instead of dieting on milk, we need to start dieting on strong meat. Look back at what he says in verse 13. For everyone that uses milk, in other words, he's saying here's this physical illustration of milk, but I'm going to put it to you in a spiritual sense. Because really, God is not interested in our physical. This body, let me let you in on a secret. This body is going to die because we're all sinners. And the wages of sin is death. And Jesus Christ, if He carries this coming long enough, every one of us is either going to be cremated or placed in the ground in a cemetery. This body is gone. This body is over with. But what does he say? He says here's the spiritual thing. God's not interested in the physical. God's interested in the spiritual. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness. What is righteousness? Righteousness is that big fancy word that we talked about last week that is our standing before God. In other words, God is holy. And He tells us that we are to be holy as He is holy. Well, guess what? I'm not holy. But guess what? When I was nine years old, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and He came into my heart. And now, guess what? His righteousness, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, the perfect Son of Man, has now done what? He has taken His righteousness and He has imputed it to me. In other words, He put it on my account. And so when God sees me, God no longer sees Donny Haynes the sinner. He sees Donny Haynes the righteous. And see, what do we do? Where is the Word? The Word of God is what we have written and what we find in Jesus Christ. Do you remember John 1? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word did what? Became flesh and dwelt among us. What we have been imputed as righteousness, how do we conform our body into what Christ has already said that we're righteous? You have to know a little bit of something about Jesus Christ. You have to know His Word. You have to be able to discern good from evil. And so, notice what he says in v. 14. He says that again, the senses exercise to discern both good and evil. Where does discernment take place? Does discernment take place in the spirit? Does discernment take place in the body? Or does discernment take place in the mind, the soul? Discernment takes place in the mind. Your body is evil. Your spirit, if you've given your life to Jesus Christ, your spirit is holy. And so you've got an evil body, a holy spirit, but guess which way you lean? Paul said, I struggle with this. When I want to do good, evil is always present, right? I mess up. But where did Paul decide? He says, my mind. I beat myself into subjection. Romans 12 and v. 2 says, Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed... where? By the renewing of your mind. Now look at this. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Don't raise your hand right now, but I want to ask you a very intimate question right now. How many of you with 100% surety can say you right now are in the perfect will of God? That you are 100% doing exactly in where God wants you to be in your life right now. And then what if I ask you the next question? Can you prove it? Can you prove it? And all of a sudden, guess what? Now we go back to that sign of immaturity. Because the number one question that most Christians ask is, Brother Donnie, how do I know if I'm in the will of God? How do I know if I'm doing the will of God? And what does this verse say us? If we're transformed by the renewing of our mind, then we will be able to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. God doesn't lay out a notebook for me and a schedule every single Sunday morning and says, Donnie, if you will do all of this every single day, all day, then you will be in my perfect will. It doesn't work that way. But you know what He does do? You know what He does do? He allows me to get into His Word every single morning when I rise up and I read His Bible, and I read His Word, and then guess what? As I go through my day, I'm faced with decisions all day long. And based upon His Word and the study of His Word, it helps me to be able to discern good and evil. And hopefully as I go through my day, I will always make the good choice and not the evil choice. But guess what? That only happens with maturity. How many of you would like to go back to when you were in your 20's? I would for the physical stamina, but I wouldn't for the mind and my experiences. I made a lot of mistakes in my 20's. I made a lot of financial mistakes. I made a lot of physical mistakes that I am still dealing with in my 50's today, right? Because why? I wasn't mature. But now I know a whole lot more today than what I did back then. Now the problem is I just don't have the body to be able to accomplish what I know needs to be done, right? Because I didn't have the wisdom when I was in my 20's. And I made bad decisions and bad stuff. But guess what? At the end of the day, at the end of the day, as I discern in my choices between good and evil, make the right decisions, I can lay down my head at night and say I have done everything that God wants me to do today. And if I've done what God wants me to do today, then guess what? I am in the will of the Father. How many times did Jesus Christ say I have to go make this decision because it's the will of God? It wasn't always the easiest decision. It wasn't always the quickest decision. It wasn't always the smartest decision. But every decision Jesus made, what did He do? He started with prayer. He started His day out talking to the Father. And then He followed the game plan. And when the scribes and Pharisees would come up and try to trick Him, what was He able? He would be able to discern their emotions. He would be able to discern their thinking and what they're trying to trap Him to do. And every single time, what did Jesus do? He always made the right decision. And God looked down at Jesus and said, this is My Son in Whom I am well pleased. This is My Son in Whom I am well pleased. Guess what? He ought to be able to do the same with you. And you ought to be able to prove it. And so look at the last thing. We need to satisfy our deduction. What do I mean by satisfy our deduction? Well, we need to drink in the milk. Let's go to a physical example for just a minute. Every infant, when they are born, what is the very first thing that the mother tries to get the child to do when they're born? Drink milk, right? I thought nursing was a natural thing. But you know what? I have found in my maturity that not every mother and not every baby had the capability of nursing. Couldn't make it happen. Well, that's supposed to be the natural thing, right? And then we look bad at mothers. Well, you mean you're not breastfeeding? You're feeding formula or whatever? Sometimes it just doesn't work out. Sometimes the baby just cannot ever get that first taste of milk. We never learn how to latch and how to drink. Now let's put it to a spiritual deal. We have a whole lot of Christians that have never tasted the milk. They have never tasted Jesus Christ. They have never experienced Jesus Christ. And so we're lost. And so what have we done? We begin to fundamental our lives in commentaries with preachers, with what other people say. Everything we have is second hand. There's nothing first hand. There's nothing that is new because we haven't experienced. If we're going to be able to be mature and satisfy our deduction, we have to drink the milk. But number two, here's the second step in it, you've got to be able to digest the milk. In other words, you have to savor and swallow before you can be satisfied. You ever had a baby that woke up during the night crying? And you put a bottle in their mouth? And what happens? A couple of swallows of that and they get satisfied. Their belly gets full. And what begins to happen? They're relaxed so much so that they fall asleep, right? How many of you have had kids you had to wake up to finish before they finished their bottle? You haven't drank enough yet, but oh, we're satisfied. See, that's the digestive process. And the satisfaction of milk begins to transform your values and priorities. Because it doesn't take that baby very long to learn that guess what? When their stomach is not satisfied, when their stomach is empty, they know that guess what? Mom has what I need to have satisfaction. And so what do they do? They begin to know and long. And as a Christian, spiritually, how do we know if we're digesting the milk? How do we know if we're getting the nutrients of the milk of the Word of God? Well, we know because we begin to love what we once hated. We begin to love what we once hated. Remember, none of us loved God in the beginning. We loved God because God first loved us. And when we start loving God, guess what? We're digesting. If you love somebody, you want to spend time with them, right? I can remember, man, back when me and Lisa was dating, this was before cell phones and texting and everything. I was at college in Magnolia. She was at college in Arkadelphia. We met up at Glen Rose Missionary Baptist Church every weekend. Both of us went to church there. My dad pastored there. She went there. I came home every weekend to go to church. We'd meet up. And before I left, she would always hand me a letter. Read this when you get back. And you know, a lot of times, I wouldn't even hardly make it out of Glen Rose before I pulled over on the side of the road because I wanted to read that letter. She was special. I wanted to see that, right? I wanted to spend time with her. It wasn't too long before I was calling back and checking and I was writing letters. And then all of a sudden, we got on the phone and she still lived in the party line. How many of you remember the party line? Right? And we would literally be talking to each other and I would fall asleep and then a relative on the street would say, hey, would y'all mind getting off the phone? I need to make a phone call, right? We wasn't even talking. We were just together through the phone. See, that's digesting the milk. That's wanting to spend time with God. I mentioned Wednesday night. We don't get to come to church. We get to come to church. This is a blessing. This is an opportunity to be with Jesus Christ. And listen, what is created in this congregation with the Holy Spirit cannot be duplicated in your house on YouTube Live or Facebook Live or on an audio recording. What happens here when two or three are gathered in My name, Jesus Christ says, I am in their midst. And what happens when the Holy Spirit is in our midst cannot be duplicated while you're by yourself. I don't want to miss the service because I don't want to miss what Jesus Christ is going to do. What's going to happen? What's going to take place? Some of the best services that we have had here at Kentucky Missionary Baptist Churches have been Sunday nights or Wednesday nights when we just got together, opened up the Word of God, and poured out our hearts with each other and lifted each other's burdens up. And you can't duplicate that. You can't plan it. You can't make it. Look at the third thing. Once we begin to digest the milk, we're able to discern good and evil. We literally make hundreds of thousands of decisions every single day that are not explicitly laid out in the Bible. For instance, where in the Bible does it tell us what we should watch on TV or not watch on TV? What about our political position? Anything about Democrats, Republicans, or independents in the Bible? What about our investment strategies? How are we going to invest our money? How are we going to plan for the future? What about your job? Any one of you got your job besides me out of the Word of God? God called me based upon His Word to preach His Gospel. It was a calling, but how many of you decided you wanted to be what you wanted to be because of a verse that was in the Bible? What about insurance? What about retirement? What about where to live? What about the vehicle you drive? Did you look up and find that in the Word of God? This is the vehicle that God wants me, and so I'm in the perfect will of God driving this vehicle. What about what you chose to wear this morning? What about how much you choose to give in the offering plates today? See, none of that is listed in the Word of God, but it's in the Word of God. It's not listed in the Word of God, but it's decisions that we make every single day, time after time after time. It does not take discernment to understand the Ten Commandments, but it does take discernment to live life and to live it for Jesus Christ. Back in verse 14, look at what he says, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Now I want you to go to a passage of Scripture in Philippians 2. And I want you to take this idea of immaturity and maturity. And I want you to read what Paul wrote to the church at Philippi about Jesus Christ. He says in chapter 2, verse 5, Let this mind be in you, which also is in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of himself no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Paul says here is maturity. When you allow the mind of Christ to overcome you, that you're no longer thinking about yourself or what you deserve or what you like or what you dislike, but you're always interested in someone else. Right? Jesus didn't worry about that He was God. What was He worried about? That you and I are sinners and fixing to die and go to hell. And so what? He was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And so what did He do? He wasn't worried about what He was or what He was giving up. He was worried about what we would be able to gain by His obedience. That's maturity. That's maturity. And it is amazing at how many times we have to continue the invitation to bring up the idea of repentance. Repent. Repent. We shouldn't have to be continually told to repent. That's one of the first principles of God. You cannot be saved or have a relationship with Jesus Christ until you repent. And then when you repent, what do you do? You have faith toward God, right? And then what did He say? Then there's the laying on of hands. Then there is baptism. And then guess what? Then there is the judgments that are going to take place. You'll never be prepared for the judgments if you haven't first of all, repented and had faith. See, we ought to be talking about a lot of other things that God would have us to do about reaching our community and lost people in our community without having to worry about begging people to repent and to come to church to read their Bible, to pray, to do the basic principles that were laid out. We keep going back. And so the question that I want to ask you this morning, are you serving? And are you obedient? If not, you're not in the will of God. You're not even in the ballgame. And so what do we do? How do we fix it? And that's what we're going to start next week. You've got to get back with Christ. There has to be repentance. There has to be faith. There has to be authority in your life. There has to be the authority of the laying on of hands, of baptism, that authority, that identification with Jesus Christ, so that you will be prepared when you get to heaven. The saddest verse in the Bible says Jesus Christ said in that day, there will be many that may say, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy? Lord, did we not do many mighty works? Lord, did we not cast out devils? And Jesus is going to look at them. And He's going to say, depart from Me, you workers of sin. I never knew you. And these Jewish Christians, our so-called Christians, have tasted Jesus Christ and experienced Jesus Christ and were wanting to throw in the towel and go back. There's some of you here this morning that are probably ready to throw in the towel on Christianity. I've tried it and it's not what I need. The author of Hebrews is begging you. You haven't really tried Jesus Christ. You haven't really tried Jesus Christ. Some of you have tried it. Some of you just need to be reminded of some of the basic principles and basic things of your spiritual walk. Whatever it is that you need today, Jesus is here to give it to you. And He wants you to have it as we stand and have a verse of invitation.