The following verses show us that to receive the deeper more complex doctrine that can really help connect us to God we need to go beyond the milk  (the basics and get to the meat) more advanced teaching.

But this can’t be achieved overnight. It is a process that requires us to transform our thinking and actions and move away from the pull of the world and move closer to God.  Just as with Faith it is an individual journey but the closer we get to God the more meat we receive.

[1 Corinthians 3:2] I have fed you with milk, and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to receive it, neither yet now are ye able.

[Hebrews 5:12] For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

[Hebrews 5:13] For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness; for he is a babe.

[1 Peter 2:2] As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby;

There are other points here also… Babes refers to people new in the church not children as we know them.

What we have to be careful of if we are to get to the meat is that we test everything against scripture. .Paul’s repeated emphasis on sound doctrine implies that the body of teaching in the church is more than just a gospel about Christ. It is the gospel of Christ, these are words we should pay some special attention to and it is essential that all readers of the gospel see it not as a story of some great people but as a living breathing history of Man and God.  Paul is instructing the reader (us) to keep the words of the Gospel as they should be this is what “Hold fast the form of sound words” is saying.

[2 timothy 1:13] Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

The reason this is so important is that in today’s world there is a great deal of emphasis put on following what is popular and trying to accommodate everyone.  There is a lot of effort put into how messages are crafted …  but this was foreseen ….

[2 Timothy 4:33] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

“Itching ears” is a figure of speech that refers to people’s desires, felt needs, or wants. It is these desires that drive a person to believe whatever he or she wants to believe rather than the actual truth itself.

People are particularly vulnerable when they are being fed this milk.  This is why study is so important.  With the scriptures being such a large volume of words, it is easy for things to be taken out of context and that can be a slippery slope down the wrong path.

Let us look at 3 places where context is very important.

[Deuteronomy 4:2] Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Some believe that this means you should follow all commandments for all time.  The character and provisions of the ancient dispensation were adapted with divine wisdom to the instruction of that infant state of the church. But it was only a temporary economy; and although God here authorises Moses to command that all its institutions should be honoured with unfailing observance, this did not prevent Him from commissioning other prophets to alter or abrogate them when the end of that dispensation was attained

[Revelations 22:19] And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Upon reading this many will think this means that the Bible is all we have and that we should not add to it in any way.  But upon closer inspection we know that it was not   until 367 AD that the  man called father Athanasius first provided the complete listing of the 66 books belonging to the canon.

And we also know that the book of revelations was written in approximately AD96 So by doing our research we can see the correct context for the passage….

One final passage to look at it is this .

[Luke 4:7] If thou therefore, wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

If you look at this in isolation, then you could easily say that this looks like Jesus talking…

However, if you look at the preceding verses then we see that it’s not Jesus but the Devil….

This shows why in our fragile state of learning it is so important to really look at what we’re seeing and understand context.  Without it we can be easily led down the wrong path….  One last point when we think about some of the messages that we see that are there to inspire (you see them a lot on Facebook)

When we consider the words in the following verse

[2 Timothy 4:2] Preach the word; be instant in season; those who are out of a season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.

Our desire to manage the comfort level of our audience must never take priority over preaching the Word. The fear of offending people’s sensibilities should never supersede the fear of offending God.

So, while we all start with the milk and desire the meat we can’t run before we can walk.  Building on faith must be a careful and deliberate action.  Through prayer, discussion and fellowship with like-minded people.  We must NEVER let pride enter into our thoughts and we must keep an open mind until we have proven all things through our books…