“Spiritual Maturity”
Eph. 4:11-16
Intro – I want to thank Pastor John for speaking last Sunday…especially for addressing one of the priorities of our church, namely “authentic community”…next week, Lord willing, Pastor Mike will address “missional living…”.
-I try to address our three priorities every couple of years or so…because it’s important to be reminded what the vision and mission of our church is…what are the guiding biblical values of our church that, once understood and embraced, can give us focus, purpose, unity and set us on a God-given trajectory for the years ahead…
If someone were to ask you, “What is NBC all about?”, I want it to be possible for everyone of us to answer that question…
We see it every Sunday on the bulletin:
Mission statement: The community of NBC exists to bring all people into a reconciled relationship with God, themselves and others.
And growing out of this mission statement are three biblical priorities that make it practical…that help us know how to move in this direction…
They are: spiritual maturity, authentic community, missional living…
This is where our church is headed; this is our God-given direction…to be a church of growing followers of Jesus, who are in a genuine, loving relationship with one another, and who are intentionally engaging the lost and hurting of this world so that lives can be reconciled to God, through the gospel of Jesus Christ…
-this destination we will never arrive at fully in this lifetime, but the important thing is being on this journey…and moving forward on this journey…
…and diligently working together to pursue this journey…by God’s grace, empowered by God’s Spirit…
So as we turn our attention to the priority of spiritual maturity today, let’s open our Bibles to …Eph. 4:11-16…
…Prayer…read…
I Understanding Spiritual Maturity
-what is sp. maturity? what does it look like? what comes to mind when you think about it?
…asked some people that this past week…
“knows the Bible…wisdom, humility, love, intentionally discovering Jesus… unshakable faith and trust…gradual daily progression…radical obedience…someone who prays, “Your will be done” and means it…
…these are all good and are part of what spiritual maturity is…now let’s see how the Bible defines it.
Characteristics of Spiritual Maturity
Our passage in Eph. gives us a number of characteristics of sp. maturity; helps us to know how to recognize sp. maturity, what to look for in ourselves and others…
1. works of service vv.12, 17
-spiritual maturity is developed by working for Jesus…by serving Him according to the gifts and abilities He has given us…
-sp. maturity is demonstrated when we diligently work at building up the body of Christ, the church and contribute to its well-being and advancement…
But these works of service are not just meant to function within the church…they are meant to touch the lost and needy outside the church…to serve the needs of people in the world so that Christ’s love is made known to those all around us in our everyday life…we’re going to hear more about that next week from Pastor Mike.
-look again at v.16… “as each part does it’s work…”
So what is your God-given work to do here at Northgate and in the world God has placed you?
Are you doing it? If so, you’re helping this church and yourself grow…if not, why not?
-do not settle for passive pew-sitting…for spectator Christianity…
…for watching the super bowl on your couch and cheering the others along…or jeering and complaining about how bad the players and coaches are…but not moving a muscle to get up and get into the game…
Can’t be spiritually mature without a few good battle scars…without a few wounds inflicted on the playing field…
If you’re not serving you’re not growing. Plain and simple. Perhaps the first practical application of today’s message for some of you is to ask God, “What do you want me to do for You? How do you want me to serve?” And then to do it.
As pastors and leaders we are always willing to sit down with you and help you find ways you can be equipped for works of service…please let us know how we can help…
2. unity in the faith v.13
“until we all reach unity in the faith…”
-a spirit of unity among the people of God is a sure sign of sp. maturity…the opposite is an independent spirit…or an isolated spirit…or a divisive spirit…or a contentious spirit…
…it takes maturity to work well with others, to work cooperatively, to be in unity with people who are different than ourselves…
-this is actually the miracle of the church; that so many different people, from different backgrounds, cultures, economic levels, education levels, personalities, styles and preferences…could actually work together in unity…get along even with our differences…
This is what Paul talked about in I Cor. 12 when he compared the church to a body with different parts… and that the foot can’t say, “Because I’m not a hand I don’t belong”…and the ear can’t say, “Because I’m not an eye I don’t belong…”
And the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!”
And then he draws this great conclusion:
I Cor. 12:24-25
But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
When you think about this diverse body of people here at Northgate… if any of you even secretly entertain the thought, “I’m better than you…I don’t need you…I really don’t want you here…I never plan on getting to know you…” then you are contributing to disunity and division and hurting the health of this body…
Or if you feel like you’re nobody and not as valuable as those other people and you’ve got nothing to offer…they you too are limiting the unity of the church and hindering the capacity of the whole body working together…
Spiritual maturity expressed by unity in the faith is a spirit that loves, accepts and honors each other, not because that’s easy for each of us to do, but because Christ does that for each of us…
-it’s unity in the faith…it’s being unified because of our common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ…it is our faith that unites us in the family of God as brothers and sisters…that’s the greatest unifying factor in a church…that rises above all the differences we have…
Unity does not mean uniformity, that we all look and act and talk the same…it means cooperation within our diversity…and if we can pull that off, then we’ve got something to offer a needy world that is desperately searching for something real…
3. knowledge of the Son of God v.13
-sp. maturity involves learning the truth of God’s word; being a student of the Bible; devoting ourselves to the consistent reading and studying of the Word…
…learning more and more about God, Jesus Christ, the great doctrines of the Christian faith, the ways of God, how to live a practical life that God uses to change our world…
-spiritual maturity is developed by learning about Jesus in the word, but more so by meeting Jesus in the word…
-can’t become spiritually mature without a rich relationship with the Bible…
2 Pet. 3:18 “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
So get into a small group and learn together with fellow believers…take a course at Taylor seminary and be stretched in your pursuit of knowledge…read good books…be a student of the Bible…but more importantly listen for God’s voice when you open the Bible…
One more warning you need to heed: beware of loveless knowledge…of all head and little heart…of knowing lots but loving little…
While it is so important to gain knowledge of God and His word, it is only part of the equation. Sp. maturity is not attained only by lots of biblical knowledge…as a matter of fact, solely attaining great heaps of biblical truth can be a very dangerous thing if it’s not coupled with a heart of love…
1 Cor. 8:1 Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
I Cor. 13:2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge… but have not love, I am nothing.
4. speaking the truth in love vv.15,17
-in my understanding of the Bible, the best, the ultimate evidence of spiritual maturity is the way we love one another…the quality of our love…
When I read about the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5, that list represents the fruit of a spiritually mature life…
…joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…
Oh, what did I leave out? LOVE! first one on the list…
I don’t care how much you know or how long you’ve been a Christian or all the things you’ve done for the Lord and His church…if you’re not a loving person, you’re not fooling anybody…especially the Lord…
Spiritual maturity looks like loving, healthy relationships between people…relationships that are marked by kindness and compassion, coupled with honesty and truth-telling…that address and work through conflict rather than avoid it…
…that refuse to judge and assume and accuse without first going to the person…
* loving one another does not mean that we tolerate ungodly or abusive behavior in the name of love…we don’t tolerate that, we confront that in a loving way…
Spiritual growth will flourish in a church with an atmosphere of healthy, biblical love…spiritual growth will atrophy in a loveless atmosphere…that’s why it’s so important…
Growth Within Community
Someone told me this past week: spiritual maturity is best fostered within community…true!…there’s no way to become a fully developed spiritually mature person by yourself, all on your own…it is best developed in the interaction between people…in the give and take, in the friction and the smooth…
-that’s why God came up with this idea of the church…of authentic community…to put us in relationship with other people to develop our character, mature us, to form us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ…
-that’s why some people run away from the church, because the people part of it can get challenging and we think it was supposed to be smooth and happy all the time…but in running away we miss all the growth and maturity that Jesus intends for us as the people He loves…
Training for Spiritual Maturity
I want to invite you to take some practical, forward steps in your pursuit of spiritual maturity…
Heb. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
eg. a lot of you have noticed my weight loss these past several months…asked me about it…let me assure you it is very deliberate and intentional, the result of both Audrey and I watching carefully what we eat and trying to exercise on a regular basis…
…I saw the number when I stepped on the scale and I realized how few of my clothes were fitting me anymore…and something inside me decided I needed to do something about it…
…and the choice to develop a disciplined lifestyle of eating properly and working out has been making a huge and healthy difference for both Audrey and I…
The same is true for our growth into spiritual maturity. You have to decide if you are OK with your present level of sp. maturity, or not…even better, you need to ask God if He is OK with your present level of spiritual growth and maturity, or not.
And if you realize you need to take steps to grow, then you need a plan…
-don’t make the mistake of leaving today’s service saying, “Yes, I do want to grow in my spiritual life,” without taking the next, harder and crucial step of determining how you will do that…there’s lots of resources available to help you…
This is where the church body comes in…talk to at least one other person and ask them to help you in your desire to grow and mature spiritually…a trusted friend, small group leader, LC member, one of us pastors…ask for ideas…just don’t go it alone…your desire and resolve will fizzle out quickly…
Let me remind you that whatever plan God gives you, it will involve being trained…being stretched beyond what you are now presently experiencing…
I need to be blunt: if you’re not being stretched spiritually, you’re not growing. You can be busy doing things for God and still not growing. If you’re doing all the things you’ve always done that are easy and familiar and comfortable for you, that doesn’t mean you’re growing…
To really grow spiritually, we need to take risks, try new things, do more challenging things, need to push into greater obedience and faith challenges…instead of stay safe and comfortable and easy…
Jesus Our Example
To bring this to a close, let’s look at how even Jesus Christ was trained and stretched in His life of spiritual maturity
Heb. 5:7-9 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
This does not mean that Jesus moved from disobedience to obedience; He’s always been perfect and sinless. What it means is that even Jesus learned obedience from what He suffered…even He had to go through a process of stretching and suffering so that His maturity would be purified and made complete…and so that He would serve as our perfect example so we would follow in His footsteps…
…that’s why Jesus was diligent in pursuing His spiritual life through His fervent prayers and radical obedience…even He learned how to grow strong and stay healthy as a follower of His Heavenly Father…
…and as a result, He became the source of eternal salvation…our perfect Savior and Great High Priest…
If Jesus did this, then we certainly must…
Conclusion
-so perhaps the first step needed today is for some of us to find a reason to get growing and pursue spiritual maturity…
…you’ll find it as you look to Jesus this morning…as we gather at the communion table and talk to Jesus about our spiritual maturity…I assure you it’s a conversation He’s been longing to have with you…and He will be lovingly honest and immensely helpful if you’re willing to listen to Him and do what He says…
Prayer…Song…Communion…
** before coming up for communion, turn to someone beside you and tell them one step you believe you need to take in order to move toward spiritual maturity…