Spiritual Maturity #1
A. Years ago there was a song entitled, Life Is Just A
Bowl Of Cherries. Is That True? Try telling that to a single
parent with two Jobs, lost a job, health, loved one. No one goes
through life untouched by hardship, bitter circumstances, heart
breaking experience.
Those things are part of lifes learning process. Christians
need to understand that. After all, how do you define the Christian
life? It is a growing and learning process. And guess what? There
are more growing and learning days that there are great, fantastic
days. And theres nothing wrong with that. In fact its
a necessary part of life.
a. Growing and learning are healthy and normal. 2 Pet. 3:18; Heb.
5:8. Hardship is an Important part of the Growing Process. Not
grow healthy with out it.
(A) People are like rivers. Get crooked by follow path of least
resistance. Nothing will straighten
out a river like an obstacle. Dam it up and it will rise to the
occasion. Not stop and dry up.
Steadily rises through the rain, mud, wind blows, turbulence.
(1) Sometimes growing, learning is painful, slow. Occasionally
down right awful. But that
does not Jesus is not Lord, God is not good, not rule, victory
is not ours.
(a) The fact is, life is tough. No Disney Land. When go skiing,
its not always down hill slopes. You still have to pay for
a lift ticket and thats no fun. No daily miracles that make
check book balance, no bed of roses, no bowl of Cherries. Those
kind of expectations are not only unrealistic. They are unscriptural
and counter productive.
2 COR 4:8?9, We are hard pressed on every side, yet not
crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but
not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. Thats
the way it is on Sunday September 15, 2002, Thats real life.
Ok then, how do I get through the afflictions, blasts of life
without despairing, giving Up? How do I do that? You Look to God.
He will be with you through the good times as well as the difficult
times. Reach out to Him and He will get you through the obstacles.
He will get you over the dam.
You Learn and Grow from all of lifes experiences. We need
to understand what the Christian Life is and is not. Just because
youre a Christian, all your problems are not going to be
solved. Dont fall into that trap. That is Satans lie
and its not True. God never promised that.
But God does promise that youll be a new creature, a secure
destiny, saved. In fact if you become a Christian, things just
might become more difficult because Satan is going to target you
as never before. He will not let you go without a fight.
Another thing. Not all your problems are addressed in the Bible.
No precise answers to specific problems. Theres a reason
for that. There are times when God will force you to walk by faith.
Youll just have to trust God.
But, thats ok. You are not unspiritual if youre having
problems. All that proves is that youre human like every
body else.
Some of the most spiritual people in the Bible wrestled with serious
life problems. The Bible describes Job, Job 1:8, as the most righteous
man earth.
Satan attacked him and he lost all he had. Lost his wealth, wife,
children and he was able to survive because of his unwavering
faith.
Do you know what Christianity is all about? A matter of growing
into spiritual maturity. Anyone with children understands that.
They have a built in living, Illustration of maturity and growth.
As they grow they become more responsible. Joy to watch them grow
and the same is true of Gods family. Start out as spiritual
babies. Fragile, Irresponsible. They grow from being infants without
strength and discernment into responsible, mature Christians who
make wise, spiritual decisions. Process that enables us to grow
up in the Lord.
All this growing does not take place over night. It takes time,
conscious effort, determination. We grow by instruction and learning
experiences. You become a mature Christian by learning Gods
Word and then putting it into practice in your everyday life.
HEB 5:11-14. The theme is twofold. Maturity and the lack of maturity.
Vs. 11, Some Christians had become hard of Hearing.
The point of that statement is not, that they had NOT heard ---
they HAD heard. They Had NOT OBEYED.
(1) Notice Vs. 12-14. What's the sign of maturity? How do you
know you are growing up in the Lord? You begin practicing what
you hear. You are making a conscious effort to learn and be something.
Thats how you learn to play a piano. You study how to play.
Practice what you learned about playing. And you become proficient
at it the more you do it.
(2) Christianity is not Instant Oatmeal. Get out the hot water,
get all steamed up and suddenly youre mature and have all
the answers to life. There is huge difference between growing
OLD in the Lord and growing UP in the Lord.
(1) I had a 56 year old cousin with the mind of a two year old.
I know some churches that suffer from that same problem. Been
here for 50-70 years. In terms of the mind of Christ are two-year
olds.
(2) Just being exposed to Bible truth will not solve your life
problems. Having a lot of head knowledge about God will not make
you a mature Christian. Must hear and absorb it down deep in your
inner life where attitudes are formed and decisions are made.
Maturity that comes with measured growth is the only thing that
will enable you to be victorious.
(2) Gods Word is not magic potion you keep on the shelf
and take down to rub on your sores. Its not a tonic you
take occasionally with a pious promise to God hoping that some
how youll suddenly know, experience and understand all of
Gods truth. = Its not that easy.
(1) No such thing as instant maturity. No secret formula that
produces full grown, mature Christians over night. Christian maturity
comes only one way. You grow into it.
(2) You grow into it by daily applying what you hear and by obeying
it. Charlotte Stonestreets Poem. Learn Your Way.
(3) Growing a Christian is sometimes difficult, inconvenient and
painful.
(a) Learning to be mature involves all those things. We grow into
Christian maturity by
learning and growing up in Christ.
(3) Acts 20:32
Spur - 09/15/02
|