In this sermon, Pastor Babij examines the Jesus’ Parable of the Lamp. In interpreting this parable, Pastor Babij explains what the lamp is and how it exposes what is hidden. He also explains the promises Jesus gives with this parable: a promise of more blessing to those who heed the message and a warning of loss to those who ignore the message.
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you besides for whoever has to him more shall be given and whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away from him let’s pray Lord I just ask you this morning as we look at these Parables about the mystery form of the Kingdom that you would give us more understanding about what is happening even in this day even in the time that we live as we see things going on Lord you are working behind the scenes you are building your kingdom even though it is hidden even though we cannot see it and Lord it will culminate into you coming back again and so I pray Lord you would give us understanding how we fit into that and so we can be Faithful Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ while we’re here and I pray this in Christ’s name amen now I mentioned last time that there is a crisis that is getting worse and worse in our land and it is the crisis of hearing and yes uh the reason for that is because we live in a multi-media entertainment saturated culture uh where television and other media sources have helped to create really a society of Watchers not listeners people who are fascinated by pictures and not educated by words people who really don’t read anymore um they read blurbs they read short blogs they read things that do not really have to engage much thought in uh and that seems to be the course of what’s going on of course that’s not a new thing uh the crisis has been around for a long time matter of fact in the garden I mentioned that Eve when she disobeyed God she it says in the scriptures that she saw the tree was pleasant for her sight all right and of course she disregarded what she had heard from God you shall not eat it so this whole matter in even in the passage of scripture we’re looking at this matter of hearing becomes a very important topic to the Lord because what he is saying to his disciples is so vital that they get it it’s so vital that they receive it and are receptive to it he does he really he impresses upon his hearers this whole matter of listening see our text today really is about how careful one hears spirit spiritual Truth uh the passage also teaches us that there is definitely a spiritual connection between the heart and the ear I asked you to ask yourself a question last time several questions about yourself are you an aggressive listener you know are you always prepared to listen when especially when the word of God is being taught is being expressed is is being given do you have an Open Bible and an open heart are you in another words are you all ears ready to add to what you already know as God builds this great picture in your mind about his great plan from the beginning to the end so it’s it’s the testing of the ear is the ear picking it up and is the heart receiving it I like what Ray Comfort does when he uh evangelizes people with the gospel he often tests to see how well they’re hearing and he says to them uh to see if they’re listening carefully he would sit he would stop in the middle of what you saying he says listen um spell shop and people would say sh hop P right and then he would quickly ask them when you come to a green light what do you do and they almost a large percent of the time say what stop all right I think that’s a great way to you know and then he says listen if you can get that wrong why do do you think you can get the matter of Eternal salvation wrong see the thing is is that that that’s what see it’s a matter of what is your ear actually listening to what are you receiving when it comes to the word word of God the true Disciples of Jesus Christ are really people who grow in their desire to know what God has to say they don’t want short stories they don’t want you know life experiences they want what does God say what does it say here in the text I need to know that you need to know that and when we do know it that is what makes us strong that is what matures us that is what makes us disciples that can go into a lost world and give the Gospel of Jesus Christ all right so let’s look back up to verse number one of chapter 4 because I want to set again the context it says and it be Mark chapter 4 verse one and he began to teach again by the Sea and such a very large crowd gathered to him and he got into a boat in the sea and sat down and the whole crowd was by the Sea on the land so we see here that there was a large amount of people that came to Jesus and on this very event the day that he stepped into that boat Jesus began to teach in a different way he began to teach in Parables right that becomes important in fact he says there in verse number two and he was teaching them many things in Parables and was saying to them in his teaching so Jesus Takes a shift in what he is teaching about and he spoke to them concerning the secrets of the kingdom of God look at verse number 11 chapter 4 it says and he was saying to them to you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God but those who are outside get everything in Parables so he’s has an inside group and he has an outside group there are always always those groups when people gather together especially when it comes to spiritual things right but let me just go back and give you some update on what parables are because I want I want you to always remember this Parables mean a comparison or an analogy Lord the Lord is often holding something up against something else usually an Earthly concept with a Heavenly meaning and so firstly these parables are connected with the central message that God has begun to assert his kingly power against evil and that the promise of the Old Testament of the time of Salvation has come with the presence of Jesus Christ on the earth with the beginning of his ministry secondly parables are not meant to be fully obvious or transparent they require the hearer or reader to use some effort to get their point and then provoke that hearer and reader to a response always a response either the response of repentance or the response of rejection there is no neutral ground it’s either one or the other you can’t straddle the fence when it comes to spiritual truth you have to come to a decision so thirdly Parables provide insight into the nature the coming the growth the consummation of the kingdom of God it gives us a picture of this Kingdom that has come near of course Jesus brings the kingdom near but remember the kingdom has not come in its fullness that will come later on but because Jesus is here near and he is the king of the Kingdom that means he steps into Satan’s territory and he begins to plunder that Kingdom how does he do it he begins to preach the gospel of the Kingdom people start getting saved and of course they’re presented with either you’re going to follow Christ or you’re not going to follow Christ you can’t have both things going on then fourthly Parables reveal more truth to do to those with receptive ears and hide the truth to all the others and then one of the last things about parables in the gospels It ultimately draws attention to Jesus as God’s Messiah and calls everyone who’s listening to make some kind of personal decision concerning him one of acceptance and obedience or one of re rejection those are that’s what’s going on when parables are given in fact Jesus teaches in Parables to reveal the secrets of the Kingdom in fact in Matthew it tells us that he opened his mouth in Parables and I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world now when I was in Ephesians I brought some of those things out that were hidden but we’re going to see that ever progressing in the gospel so in Parables Jesus is going to speak about the hidden the concealed the cover things uh that were in the past were that were not understood since the foundation of the world and Jesus is going to reveal the secret thought the plans and the dispensations of God which were hidden from Human reason and reveal them only to whom they are intended only to his true disciples so one has to believe and repent and come into the kingdom of God before they can have anything else um you can study all your life and never about even about spiritual things and even about the Bi Bible and never come into the kingdom of God see Jesus gave seven Parables concerning the secret form of the kingdom of God now let me just give you a little mini Theology of my understanding of the kingdom of God which is is a huge subject in scripture and a very difficult one I look at it like this the mini theology is that there was a mediatorial kingdom given to King David in the Old Testament right a mediatorial kingdom is a kingdom that has several aspects to it number one it’s the rule of God through a divinely chosen representative who only speaks and acts for God and also represents the people of God of course in the Old Testament that would be in this case King David all right and then of course along in the thinking about the mediatorial kingdom is that it’s a role which has special reference to the Earth all right that a mediatorial kingdom is something that has to take place on the Earth all right and then having as its mediatorial ruler one who is always a member of the human race so there has to be a human who resides over a kingdom that is on the earth so that’s what I mean by a mediatorial kingdom it’s on the Earth all right and it’s by an Earthly King and so that was given to David that was the promise now between David and the millennial reign of Christ on Earth which I believe is the millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ remember there has to be a human Jesus Christ is the god man he has to be ruling on the Earth all right he rules here on the earth and he rules in the millennial kingdom here on Earth which then leads into the Eternal kingdom of God so between David’s Kingdom and the kingdom of Christ on Earth we have the church right we have the age of the church all right and the church is the c stoian of the kingdom of God the church is the spiritual part of the kingdom of God right so that means while we’re preaching the gospel the kingdom the Lord is BR building the secret kingdom of God behind the scenes all right that is what he’s doing right now so there’s going to be some crazy things that go on while we’re preaching the kingdom of God evil is still around all right sin is still abounding all right the world’s gone crazy all right all over the place and so all these things are quite normal when it comes to scripture but behind the scenes God is building his kingdom and so the parables are telling telling us some aspect about the secret form of the kingdom of God that is being growing and becoming bigger and bigger and bigger all right so the last Parable that I looked at last last time I preached was the parable of the swer and of course better the soils that the soils represented the heart of man the seed was the word of God all right and of course the seed was broadcasted and as the seed fell on the ground whether it was hard whether it was thorny whether it was Rocky or whether it was cultivated would give the sense on how that seed would grow and bear either a small crop or a larger crop and so when the seed of the word of God falls on a cultivated heart all right then that person believes and they come in to the secret kingdom of God uh the church being the custodian of that Kingdom the second Parable is the one I’m going to look at this morning and that’s the parable of um the lamp and then of course the parable of the growing seed and then the parable of The Mustard Seed now each of the three Parables is showing that the kingdom of God will grow by the power of God until it takes every true disciple from every people group in every nation so that’s what’s going on now the times of the Gentiles in which the gospel will go through the whole world and the gospel will penetrate everyou group of people every nation it will go to until that last disciple comes in to the kingdom of God I don’t know who that is only God knows when and who and how that’s going to take place but these Parables give us some insight into that what’s going on behind the scenes all right so this morning we look at the parable of the lamp in verse number 21-25 of chapter 4 so Jesus is now addressing a narrower circle of hearers in this Parable and that is those who are sitting at jesus’ feet as his disciples they’re learning they’re following his teaching along with the TW Apostles and Jesus throws out to them two rhetorical questions that call for a negative answer and then one rhetorical question that really calls out for a positive answer he uses a very common object for his story and the Lord usually does that remember he it’s going to be a contrast right the lamp everybody can understand what a lamp is now in the Old Testament a lamp in those days was a receptacle of oil uh which one end had a snout through which a wick passed through so they would fill a lamp with oil and they would stick a whip Wick in it and they would light it and that would be their source of light in their house and so that’s what is going on here and remember that a lamp was to give light the purpose of a lamp of that object was to give light in order for people to see that’s what the purpose of light is so people can see something they would not normally see if the light wasn’t there all right so that’s what is going on here so the Lord is using the object of a lamp all right and there’s two things that are important to come bring out here in this passage number one if you hide the lamp you use it in the wrong way that’s the first thing and look what he says in verse 21 and 22 verse 21 he says and he was saying to them a lamp is not brought to be put under a basket is it or under a bed there’s the two rhetorical questions of course the answer is no that’s not what you use it for but then he says it is not is it not brought to be put on a lampstand of course that would have the answer of yes yes so see the very idea of putting a lamp under something to hide its purpose is absolutely ridiculous instead light is to provide maximum coverage to benefit all in a given room so hence to hide a lamp that produces life is to use it in a wrong manner now the reference to the lamp is I believe twofold number one it refers to Jesus remember what Jesus says in the Gospel of John chap 12: 46 I have he said it says I have come as the light as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness so Jesus of course is considered to be the light he’s the one who comes into the Darkness Darkness of Satan’s kingdom the darkness of the world and he is the light and then again in John 1:9 and other passages it says there was the True Light which coming into the world en lightens every man and then of course John 812 then Jesus spoke to them saying I am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of light life so Jesus being definitely the referent to that lamp but then his disciples also are the ones who are going to take the lamp and do something with it all right they in in a sense are are the lamp too because the lamp also pictured the hearers who receive his word as lamps who have been lighted so now people who were living in darkness were living in the bondages of sin are now Made Alive because of the light of Jesus Christ and so now they have a responsibility to do something with this light so then lamps are to be put on a lampstand in order to give light for people now in the same way the disciples are to spread the light of the word of God the message of the Gospel El of the kingdom and bring that gospel to the nations of people of the world that’s what they’re to do that’s their responsibility to do that and of course God is doing that and as he’s doing that people are coming into the kingdom of God they’re seeing the kingdom of God and they’re entering the kingdom of God by the conviction of the spirit of God and repentance and faith and that’s how they’re the and then the church is being built so the admonition for us would be do not put the light where it does no good we have to hold up the light of Jesus Christ if people are to be saved there’s no other way to do it to do anything else with the light is actually ridiculous and helps no one and does not use that light in the way it ought to be used all right now as that’s going on chapter 4 of verse and verse 22 we have two synonymous statements that are given it says this for nothing is hidden except to be revealed nor has anything been secret but that it would come to light they’re both synonymous things said in different ways in the present context the Blessed secrets are of the Gospel that’s what’s in view here so the disciples are the L lamp to be placed on the lampstand with the message of the light of Jesus Christ and through them the mystery of the Gospel is to shine forth in the world so the very light of the Gospel will actually expose the darkness it will expose the hidden things of the world it will show what those real what those EX hidden things really are and the nature of what they are and what God doesn’t expose now will be exposed at the end in the Judgment of God in other words God will finish everything in judgment nobody nothing that is hidden will be kept hidden the Lord will make everything known everything revealed so it is not the purpose of men here in this passage to do the hiding that is in view but God who frustrates this secretive purose purpose of people because this is what usually happens sin hide people who sin hide things right we have everybody’s hiding something you hear the terms where people say well you have you have skeletons in your closets too don’t you right so if some somebody has something to hide something some everybody has something to cover to keep Secret so in other words God will see to it that all secret things are revealed if not in time then at the end God will bring to light even the secret of of people’s hearts and there’s really two passages of scriptures that um highlight this and kind of pull back the curtain when it comes to what the Lord is going to do in his judgment in fact if you’d like to turn there the first one is 1 Corinthians 45 and the second one is Romans chap 2 verse number 16 and the first one in 1 Corinthians 4:5 says this it says therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts and then in Romans chapter 2 verse 16 it says the on the day when according to my gospel God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus in other words that there is going to be a time where L Lord’s going to expose even the secrets of people’s hearts could you imagine how many Secrets there are and how is he going to do that by the Light of the Gospel so it is the very light of the Gospel that exposes the darkness that exposes the evil that exposes the sin that exposes that every exposes everything that is against God everything that is contrary to what God is doing and it’s going to bring it to light so like the lamp that is properly placed on the lampstand so God has sent this lamp to to bring light to a dark world he has come to reveal truth he has come to Enlighten Minds he has come to con conquer the darkness and the light may be for the most part today hidden at the moment however eventually the whole world will see the glory of this light and they will come and bow to Jesus Christ who is the light and they will have their secrets revealed before him and nothing that has been hidden will stay hidden it will be manifest before God and so that becomes what is going on all both things are going on the gospel is going out things are still being hidden and yet the Lord is giving us the secrets of what was hidden in the gospel all right that this is how you become come into the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ so then look at what Jesus says in verse number 23 this is where he comes up again talking about ears and he says if anyone has ears to hear Let Him hear if anyone has ears to hear Let Him hear so Jesus is saying to his audience are you listening to this do you hear what I’m saying are you getting it so why should the hearers give heed to what Jesus is saying why the reason why is because hearing the word of God and acting upon it is of the greatest importance in life matter of fact it is of the highest importance in life I was talking to a man um my sister had gotten married this weekend and I had done the wedding and um I was talking to a man later a longtime friend who came to the wedding and um he was uh not religious um and stuff like that he’s sitting out there and listening to the message and and after the the wedding he says to me you know why you can convince me to be a Christian and I said well I would love to do that and so I I spent a little time with them talking with him and um and he was really intrigued he says one thing that was amazing about what you were saying is that I couldn’t disagree with one thing because I I knew this it was all true and he says I it’s hard to argue with truth you know his name was Sam and uh so I hope to have another opportunity to speak to him and I but that was very encouraging to me because see that’s what grabs people it is is that no matter where they’re at no matter what philosophy of Life they have no matter what conclusions they come to when they hear the truth they know it’s the truth whether they reject it or accept it they know it and he knew he says you know and I was telling him about Jesus Christ is that you know the only you know you hear that there’s many ways to God but you know what according to scripture uh there’s only one way to God and that’s through Jesus Christ and I says and if you don’t believe in Jesus Christ there’s only one alternative that God can do because God’s a just God he’s got to send you away from him into a place that’s called called hell where you’re going to be under his wrath for all eternity and uh so at that point things were breaking up and he was leaving but he was he was definitely says I would like to talk to you about this again and so that see that is something that when light is brought to a person when truth is brought to a person which are synonymous in Scripture it it gets right down to the very recesses of their heart and they have to Grapple with it they have to deal with it if they do then of course it will bring them to a conclusion of whether they’re going to repent and believe or they’re going to reject it so Jesus says at this point to his audience and remember his audience are his followers his 12 and the whole crowd that are on the seashore and they’re list listening to him and he’s saying to them if anyone has ears to hear Let Him hear now how’s that related to the lamp well if you hide the light if you hide the truth you will lose it you will lose it look what it says in verse 24 it says and he was saying to them take care what you listen to by your standard of measure it will be measured to you and more will be given to you besides that is an encouraging statement but that is a statement of responsibility see God’s not going to let the Lord’s not let anybody off the hook that you can just listen to me and not work at listening that’s somehow you’re sitting there and it’s all passing and flowing over you like a wave of the ocean no it is your responsibility to put effort to your hearing and it’s amazing what he says I never heard this only place I ever heard it used like this was right here in scripture because he says this the measuring here it means measuring is hearing so you’re measuring something by the way you hear measuring whether you’re a good hearer or an inadequate hearer and superficial hearing is always bad and never pleasing to the Lord so how people treat the instruction of Jesus is vitally important in this section of scripture Jesus wants his disciples to bring when the word of God is being taught a full measure of attention and eagerness to learn in fact that’s what a disciple is disciple simply means a learner but it’s not something who just sits there somebody who is engaging with their ears to what is being said and running it through the grid of everything else they know and as they do that they grow and they grow and they grow in their knowledge and their wisdom and their understanding of what God is doing in their life and in the world and in the church and where he’s where all this is heading so see Jesus wants his disciples to bring a full measure of attention and eagerness to their learning if so if they do that God will return to them an even Fuller measure of the precious saving faith that they were int introduced to in the beginning and God’s measure is always always lavishing and generous no believer can say that God didn’t lavish truth and light on them they can’t say that because God is always a generous Giver especially in this area so if you look at the last part of the verse in verse 24 by your standard of measure it will be measured to you and more will be given you besides so the aggressive listener is somebody who can always enjoy more always enjoy more truth always enjoy more light it’s because they want it to because God will return to them a fuller measure of whatever they can give in their hearing and the measure you give will be the measure you get the way you give to others in this way God will give to you but he will give you even more and look at verse 25 for whoever has to him more shall be given and whoever does not have even what he has shall be taken away I don’t know about you but that’s a frightening statement so if you think of it in this way in the terms of two groups group one those who care carefully they give heed they pay attention they are receptive to the word of God and that equals that they will keep what they have and receive even more than they gave back in their hearing from God because they’re engaging they want it they’re receptive they’re taking it in they’re chewing on it it’s digesting spiritually in their soul and they’re becoming more like Christ and they’re realizing they’re seeing God’s plan and they’re adjusting their their life to what God’s plan is and knowing that this Earth is disposable this is not our home this is not the end there’s going to be and uh uh we’re going to be in the presence of Christ and so they begin now to adjust everything to be thinking eternally and not just temporally and not just locally but it becomes a broad spectrum of thought why because they’re growing in the word of God in fact the gold of the world is growing themm and their desire to be with Christ is increasing because their knowledge is increasing of what God is giving to them and it all so good hearers receive and they get more and the response to God’s truth means more truth will follow that’s the promise that God gives those who are engaged in receptive hearing one person suggested the sense also of the passage because it’s talking about what’s going on behind the scenes in the growing secret kingdom of God is that when you hear and embrace the kingdom of God now when it’s small when it’s so somewhat hidden you will share it when it is worldwide you will share it when in other words the kingdom of God is exposed to all the world and now Jesus Christ and uh the place that he resides on the earth the Nations come to him and we are all going to be part of that kingdom in which Jesus is reigning and ruling on the earth and everybody knows it and sees it and so we are part of that because we believed when the kingdom was smaller but now it’s going to be this incredible growth that explodes everywhere uh in God’s plan and we’re going to be part of that that’s the first group the second group those who do not take care to hear carefully who do not pay attention who are distracted by the things of the world who are distracted by making money who are distracted by materialism who are distracted by just problems and issues that take their mind off of what their mind should be on and because of that they will get no more and the frightening part about it is is that even what they did get in knowledge they lose so those who care not to heed do not pay attention and we not recepted to the word of God are bad hearers and they reject what God offers to them so I don’t know if I can make a conclusion on that specifically from this passage of scripture but it seems here that those who cared not to heed who brought no heed and no desire to Jesus would naturally find the same measure measured out to them that they would be a person who refuses Jesus and the word and loses what little they may have once had as their knowledge of God and what he’s doing and it’s gone forever and you know what throughout the church throughout church history there has always been a vast amount of preaching but the result has always been the same some hearts are penetrated and produce fruit only some hear and want more and get more so that’s what’s going on as the mystery part of the kingdom is growing behind the scenes in the church you have two things going on some people will have the word of God penetrate the heart and bear fruit some people people will hear and want more and and of course they will bear more fruit of knowledge too and so that’s the case of course the question is how you respond to Jesus day by day is of the highest important to Jesus Christ young people whatever going on in your life the most important thing for you to know is the word of God old people too middle people whatever age you are that’s your our ears have been created to hear God and when you hear God you don’t want to hear anything else and when you hear him you want more and you want more and you want more and you want more it’s like what Peter says those desire like a baby desires the milk of his of the mother’s breast the mother’s milk uh babe and or a baby uh just like a baby that’s how it should be the desire of a Believer right that I want more and I want more and I want more and I want more and God continually gives us more that’s why it’s so amazing you can you can study the Bible every day of your life for the rest of your life and never exhaust it because we can exhaust it in fact when we die and to Heaven you know we’re going to be learning about who God is and it’s going to be for all eternity and we’re still not going to know everything see when we get to heaven we don’t know everything because we would be God God knows everything but we’re going to be learning more and more more about him and you know what we’re going to enjoy every second you know when Martha and Mary were having that thing and uh Mary sat at jesus’ feet and Martha was all busy about doing things what did Jesus said she sat and listened and heard Jesus and Jesus says what she has been given will not be taken away from her Martha because see she caught the most important thing it’s not doing all the Frantic things that life pressures us to do it’s about listening to the lord it’s about getting what he says it’s about putting it into practice it’s about loving the Lord with all your heart the only way you’re going to do that is by scripture now I want you to take your Bibles real quick and turn to Hebrews because Hebrews had something to say to a group of people who should have known been to the place where their hearing should have produced at least discernment of what is good and what is bad so true disciples really are careful not to become dull of hearing in Hebrews chapter 5 look down to verse number 11 it says this Hebrews 5:11 concerning him we have much to say and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing for though by this time you ought to be teachers you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the Oracles of God and you have come to need milk and not solid food for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness for he is an infant but solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil now in this passage of scripture of course there’s two things going on the immense responsibility of teaching the word of God all right and he says there listen some things are hard to explain scripture is not easy there’s many parts of scripture that are very difficult and let me just say that the full orbed full orbed teaching of the Christian faith is by no means uh an easy things to grasp nor can it be learned in a day or even a few months but it really must be the daily exercise of the mind on Truth for the rest of your lives it is something you cannot back away from for long periods of time so an unwillingness to work out the deeper implications of the Gospel in your lives and to remain reluctant to give serious thought to the ongoing exposition of scripture prevents spiritual growth and there’s also the ineptitude of the student student it says since you have become dull of hearing and the word dull actually means uh is used for a numbed limb actually the numb limb of a sick lion if a lion was slow moving he would not be able to catch his prey and it would be just a matter of time for him to grow weaker and weaker and become sick and die and so he the hunter would become the hunted now that’s a very sad and pathetic thing to see a lion the king of beasts become that weak and why does it become that weak because he somehow by a lame leg cannot feed himself and so therefore dies off so two things result really from the EP ineptitude of students it restricts communication the teacher could not teach the people more of the revelation of God’s word in other words he could not teach the meat and potatoes because they were not able to take it and also it restricts comprehension if the believer’s Mind remains numb and their mind stops feeding on spiritual truth well then they are not going to grow spiritually a Christian not growing in spiritual truth is a very sad and pathetic thing it’s a very sad and pathetic thing so in Hebrews 511 where he says and since you have become dull of hearing this implies that the readers were once Keen of hearing but have fallen into a sluggish spiritually lazy condition but it gives hope to to their sluggishness In this passage see it doesn’t need to be permanent if you’re falling onto some cold times or you’re not listening the way you ought to um and of course our culture and even modern evangelicalism does not help rescue someone from this condition because the mindset of evangelicalism is let’s dumb everything down matter of fact all the standards across all education is being dumbed down to the point where oh everybody can come in no that’s not how God done it right there’s certain standards that need to be met and so there’s one thing we can never do in the Christian faith is dumb things down that’s why we need to know the whole counsil of God we need to know all the Bible and all the Bible some of all some of the Bible is not always interested interesting at the moment but we need to know it because it’s filling in an understanding of what God has done so the great Scandal of today’s church is Christians without Christian Minds well you see that Hebrew Christians here after many years in the faith have not been growing spiritually for several reasons which I can’t give now but enough time had passed for them to have developed in mature in maturity and Christian thought and to the point where they should have been able to articulate truth to others and live a life pleasing to God but look at the painful diagnosis in verse number 12 of Hebrews chapter 5 your babies when by this time you should be teachers he says that you ought to be teachers teers see so not teachers in the sense of theological professors or Elders not in that sense and then secondly you never got past the rudiments the basics Christianity 101 so the same students need to be taught again the same subject by another teacher see you need someone to teach you again the ABCs of Christianity in other words you need to repeat the elementary curriculum you should have been moved past that by now or maybe you’re comfortable with that kind of curriculum we can’t be though as Believers if the passage in I I said in talked about in Mark is that we’re going to want more we’re going to want more we’re never going to be satisfied what we know spiritually and that’s that’s the way it ought to be and also he says here you need milk you need to be bottle-fed with milk the only ones who use milk are babies and those who are ill what what do they call that stuff that they give you when you’re ill ensure that’s it ensure you know liquid everything’s liquid no meat potatoes something you could sink your teeth into you know I mean that’s what you want as a Believer I want to know more I want to know the doctrines of Grace I want to know those things those give things give you stability so your decision and behavior display spiritual ignorance as it says here in this passage and like little children who do not know the difference between right and wrong verse verse number 13 for everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness for he is an infant cannot discern the difference between what’s right and wrong what’s God’s way and what’s every other way they just don’t know they’re not sure we ought to be sure if I ask you do you know if you’re going to die today and go to heaven you ought to be sure about the answer not b based on a profession but based on what you learn from the word of God based on your stability and in theological doctrine that you have been learning and growing in that you’re confident that God’s done this and he will keep his promise to not only save you now but take you into eternity all right see that the thing is that you need to be sure about that there can’t be any straddling the fense on that this is the most important question of your life so what’s the solution according to Hebrews chapter 5 for anyone who’s become dull of hearing for anyone who has slacked off and has not been attentive as they ought to be to spiritual things here’s the solution verse 14 chapter 5 of Hebrews he says this get in and stay in the spiritual gymnasium in verse number 14 but solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern Good and Evil you know what godliness is practice if you want to be good at basketball practice if you want to be good at anything practice right well it says here why are they able to discern good and evil why are they able uh to um know what God wants them to do is because they are training to discern and the word train is actually the word gymnasium in the Greek to exercise vigorously in any way either the body or the mind as one becomes accustomed to the word of God by constant use and constant training and constant washing your mind out washing out all the junk and putting in God’s truth the mind then makes correct judgments when necessary you can discern I know the difference between what is good and what is bad what is right and what is wrong what is God’s way what is every other way I know that I’ve learned that from what practicing the word of God from getting in my head you know why because God cares about the strength and maturity of his children and something that is normal for Christians to remain spiritual infants for the duration of their lives as long as they profess Jesus as Savior and Lord sometime in the past they’re satisfied and they think God expects no more of them wrong well kind of father would want to have his children or have 10 children and that did not care whether any of them grow spiritually or to physical maturity nobody would want that in the same token what kind of father would God be if he wanted if if he wanted to adopt so many children but then didn’t care whether or not they ever grew up in the faith see God is not a deadbeat dad he is always working towards the spiritual growth of the members of his body because it is to us has been given the Keys of the Kingdom of God to bring the light of the Gospel the lamp where the to put the light on the lampstand and to show it to people so God can use that to bring others into the kingdom of God as the kingdom of God grows behind the scenes and leads towards the culmination of God’s program so members should care about their own continual spiritual progress and you should also pray and care about the spiritual C progress of the rest of the sheep too so are your ears ready to listen are you receptive and sensitive to God’s truth truth have you had and do you still have a desire a craving for the word of God like a baby has for his mother’s mouth do you have that if you don’t have that desire look for sin if you never have that desire look to see if you’re even converted if you have the spirit of God living in you if you see the the sin confess the sin and get back into the gymnasium and start training your heart and mind every day until that desire gets rekindled and you feed on God’s word and you love it you love it so during the mystery hidden growth of the kingdom of God there will be good hearers and there will be bad hearers but only those who can continue to grow in the word of God and follow Jesus are the true disciples those are the ones who Jesus asked the questions if you have ears to hear Let Him hear true disciples are the ones who have ears to hear good hearers receive and get more bad hearers reject and lose the little that they once had a look at yourself today and evaluate yourself according to this passage because those are the people that are part of the kingdom of God Amen let’s pray Lord again I thank you for such credible truth from the word of God I pray Lord that we would be able to put ourselves up against it and that Lord we would see how do we measure when it comes to our hearing and Lord Lord how do we measure before you not before anybody else Lord do we come ready do we come wanting to receive wanting to feed do we come wanting to add to what we already know I pray that we would Lord make us make us people who want it who want the word of God who want to be used who want to be keeping their joy and and living in the peace of God so they can do what they should be doing bringing the gospel to their family and friends and living the gospel before them and and being able to give wise counsel because they know the difference between what God wants and what the world is doing I pray that you would make us people that are Discerning and um and people that really love your truth and I ask this in Christ’s name amen