Move Towards Maturity

Acts 1:1–3 NKJV

1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

I want to talk to you about moving towards spiritual maturity so that you can step into the life and purpose God calls you to.

When I was going for my bachelors degree I had a Java class. At the same time I had this class, I was actually working on a job where part of what I did was write software. Before this class I did various other classes and programming languages like Pascal, C++, Visual Basic, Cobol, RPG, and JavaScript. But I hadn’t learned Java. I had an advantage over other students because I knew programming concepts and basic terminology even if I didn’t know the syntax of the Java language specifically. I had to learn how to apply my knowledge to Java before I could actually use it even though I understood how it worked.

In this present “Information Age” we have access to more information and collective knowledge than any previous generation in history. We have access to information on almost any topic.

Unfortunately having access to information doesn’t mean that we know how to apply that information in a skillful way. Example: skilled trades labor decreasing as Boomers retire.

In the end, what we know does not matter as much as how we applied what we knew.

Illustration: an ideal test verifies that we are learning by creating problems that require us to apply the things we know. Proof of actual learning is found in the application of knowledge in a way that solves the problem.

Jesus didn’t only teach and preach. We know that He performed signs and wonders. He demonstrated mercy and justice. He showed kindness and love. He healed the sick and cast out demons. He gave and served.

Jesus didn’t just share knowledge of God. He demonstrated it.

When we can move beyond mental knowledge and into practice then we will become doers of the word and not hearers only (James 1.23). As we become doers of the word we will go beyond the basics of faith and enter into more of the deep things of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 2.10).

We Need More Than Right Doctrine

Having the right doctrines or beliefs about God is not enough to please God. We have to believe and practice them. Knowing what is good and right but not doing it is considered sin to God (James 4.17, cf. Matthew 7.22-23).

Illustration: Geico commercial with "Honest” Abe Lincoln and his wife’s dress. You can say the right thing in the wrong way and be wrong.

To make things more difficult, our beliefs and knowledge of God are constantly being challenged both inwardly by our flesh and outwardly by the world and the devil. Often this results in us doubling down in the refuge of right answers and religion.

But if we are going to be like Christ, we need to move towards maturity. This means that we are intentionally, methodically, applying and living out the truth that we know.

John 8:31–32 M:BCL

31 Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. 32 Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.”

The good news is that God has prepared the resources we need for this. He has given us spiritual fathers and mothers and many teachers (1 Corinthians 4.15). He has given us the Scriptures to admonish, correct, and exhort us in right thinking and right doing (2 Timothy 3.16-17). And He has sent the Holy Spirit to lead us and teach us in the Way (Romans 8.16, 1 John 2.27).

Moving Towards Maturity

Moving towards maturity is the path of discipleship and the Way of Christ. The call to a deeper Christian life has been the invitation of God to everyone who believes. And those who practiced their faith with intentionality and passion have experienced this deepening of their love and experience of God.

We are going to look at three ways that we can respond to the call and press on towards maturity.

Put Away Childish Things

1 Corinthians 13:11 AMP

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

If we are going to walk in the things of the Spirit, see miracles, and be used by God we have to seek maturity. One of the main reasons we do not see more of God’s presence and power in our lives is that we are not pursuing spiritual growth.

Hebrews 5:12–14 ESV

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

Did you notice the difference between the immature and mature?

The child needs to be taught. They only get milk to eat because that is all they can handle. The child is unskilled in the word of righteousness. The child has not been trained by constant practice.

What characterizes talking and thinking and reasoning like a child? Selfishness. Immaturity.

The mature can teach. They are skilled in the word of righteousness. They enjoy solid food because they have been trained by constant practice to reject evil and embrace good.

We have to have the same approach: constant practice. Intentional growth.

Illustration: I know a number of people even in the church now who are studying and practicing exercises to prepare for certain IT certifications. Those certifications are evidence that they have some demonstrated knowledge that is beyond the basics. It speaks of a person’s diligence and willingness to grow and learn. And these certifications can be the difference between staying at the level you are or promotion.

We may be motivated to grow, develop, and work hard so that we can have greater opportunities and experiences in our work life. What if we were intentional and practical about moving forward in our spiritual lives like we are in our careers?

This is a major step towards maturity and towards seeing God do greater things in and through you.

Exercise Your Intelligence

1 Corinthians 14:20 M:BCL

To be perfectly frank, I’m getting exasperated with your infantile thinking. How long before you grow up and use your head—your adult head? It’s all right to have a childlike unfamiliarity with evil; a simple no is all that’s needed there. But there’s far more to saying yes to something. Only mature and well-exercised intelligence can save you from falling into gullibility.

There is far more to saying yes to something. That requires engagement. That requires willingness and understanding.

If you are not mature and have not exercised your intelligence you are in danger of being tricked or duped or taken advantage of by sin and the flesh.

Romans 8:5–6 NKJV

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

If we want to enter into a new level of spiritual power and experience, we need to become spiritually minded. This is the path to life and peace. This is the path to living according to the Spirit.

How do we exercise our intelligence?

Study the Scriptures (Joshua 1.8)

Read and engage with spiritual books and teaching (cf. Acts 17.11)

Think deeply about the things of God and of life that are good and beautiful and noble and right (Philippians 4.8-9)

These things lay a foundation that the Holy Spirit can use to teach us (John 14.26).

Illustration: My growth in prayer began with reading about Smith Wigglesworth and his walk with God. I asked the Lord to teach me to pray like He did the disciples. I read the Scriptures and took notice of what the Bible said about prayer. I read books like Andrew Murray’s With Christ in the School of Prayer. And I began to run prayer experiments to test what I was learning and to engage thoughtfully with what I was learning. This changed my life. My prayers became more effective. I began to prophecy without knowing it at first. I learned from the saints of old and the heroes of faith.

What are you doing to exercise your intelligence when it comes to spiritual things? How are you building a library in your spirit through which the Holy Spirit can remind you and bring to your remembrance the answers you need for the people around you?

Exercise your intelligence in the things of the Spirit. Learn of Jesus (Matthew 11.29). Learn His words and His ways. Think about the why and the how. Ponder your path so that you will be established (Proverbs 4.26).

Do What Jesus Did

John 13:12–17 NKJV

12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

The path to maturity is practiced experience. We learn and observe and then we act and obey.

Without practicing the teachings of Jesus as we follow Him on the Way of life, we fail to experience the fulness of blessing He invites us into.

We are called to bear the fruit of the Spirit and exercise spiritual gifts in the power of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5.22-23, 1 Corinthians 12.7-10).

What are the works of Jesus?

Matthew 4:23 NKJV

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

How did He do these things?

Acts 10:38 NKJV

how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

If these are the works of Jesus that He did in the Spirit what works do you think we should be doing? Aren’t they the same? Preach the gospel to people. Teach others how to follow God. Heal the sick, deliver the oppressed. To do good works and bear fruit to the glory of God (Matthew 5.16, John 15.8)?

Illustration: I have been blessed to see many people healed or encouraged by the prophetic because of one thing. I keep praying and keep asking God to speak.

Do you want to see more of the supernatural in your life? Do what Jesus did. Pray, worship, preach, teach, listen, love…like Jesus.

Conclusion

We must move towards maturity.

We have to begin to take seriously our eternity with God and put away childish things.

We have to begin to exercise our intelligence toward godliness. To fill our minds with the words and wonders of God so that we might live in light of His glory.

And ultimately, we must do what Jesus did if we claim to be His disciples.

If we begin to intentionally do these things now we will find that ourselves growing in grace and in the knowledge of God (2 Peter 3.18).

If we keep in them we will be equipped for every good work and step into the ministry and miracles that God has prepared for us.

Let’s move towards maturity.