Grow - Spiritual Maturity Draft

BIG IDEA: Mature believers grow in their understanding of God, grow in biblical community and grow in their obedience to God.

Outline:

Age does not equal maturity

What is spiritual maturity

How do we mature spiritualy?

What does spiritual maturity look like?

Action: grow in obedience

Intro: Age does not equal maturity

As a child, one of my favorite fairytails was that of Peter Pan. I loved the action and adventure. I loved watching him fight Captain Hook and soaring through the air. It’s interesting in this narrative, you have a boy in conflict with an adult, both have chosen to live in this magical land called “Never Land” where they don’t have to grow up. Both are different in age, but neither are mature.

Even the clan of boys, that Peter leads, called the “lost boys” they have all chosen to follow Peter in this endeavor to never grow up.

Today we live in a similar land. Not fictional, but real. A land in which people age, and yet do not always mature. We grow in age and responsibility and autonomy and yet our ability to steward the freedom and responsibility doesn’t always correlate to the number of times we’ve circled the earth.

Today, we live in a land where the desire is that of the lost boys - to never grow up.

A mentor of mine named Kyle Robinson said, “Age does not make you mature. Age makes you older.” Maturity makes you better. Age allows you to develop and then decay. Maturity allows you to thrive. In other words, age does not equal maturity.

So if there is not a direct correlation between age and maturity than how do we determine when we grow up? More specifically, when do we mature spiritually? I believe Scripture gives us the answer, but in order to answer this question we have to first define WHAT Spiritual maturity is?

As we begin to answer this question, please do not be mislead.

Spiritual maturity doesn’t mean that mean we get a longer list of to-don’ts as we mature.

In Exodus 20, God gave Moses the 10 commandments. Many of which contain the phrase “you shall not”. It’s a misnomer to believe that Christianity is a list of todos and to-donts. Rather it’s about a relationship with Jesus in which we experience transformation as we grow in our understanding of who He is. And it is this relationship that leads to our greatest joy. The motive force for spiritual growth is the delight that is found in knowing Jesus and living for Him.

So then what is spiritual maturity?

To answer that question, please turn to Ephesians 4

As you’re turning there let’s briefly recap

Week 1, One God establishes One Body - the church. the church is not a building, it’s a body of people. A body of believers who have been equipped with spiritual gifts for the flourishment of the body and the advancement of the gospel.

Week 2 One body made up of each one of us with gifts

Today, we see how we are to grow as a body.

Ephesians 4:11–16 NLT

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

Ephesians 4:13 Is at the Core of this text and we see here that it says “13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

The word mature here, “teleios” also translated perfect 17/19 times its used in the NT.

Other places we see this word used:

Col 1:28 “28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.”

Col 4:12 “12 Epaphras, a member of your own fellowship and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings. He always prays earnestly for you, asking God to make you strong and perfect, fully confident that you are following the whole will of God.”

Matt 5:48 vs 47 paraphrase “don’t be like the pagans,”

“48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Our “perfect” or “mature” form is when we look like Christ.

3D Printing: process of becoming complete. 3D prints start with the template and grow into completion.

We see here that Christ is the metric for maturity.

The txt says that we will Eph 4:13 “be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” Christ is the ruler for our spiritual growth. So don’t look to your neighbor, your roommate, your teammate or your spouse as a barometer for how spiritually mature you are. Look at Christ.

All have fallen short - of His glory!

Romans 3:23 “23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

It’s realizing we are continually in need of Jesus that propels us towards Jesus Matthew 5:3 “3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” Matthew 5:6 “6 God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.”

Paul continually reminds us not to forget Eph 2:1 “You were once dead”

What maturity is —> HOW we mature

We now have established WHAT Biblical Maturity is and looks like, let us next establish HOW Biblical Maturity is brought about

Ephesians 4:13 “13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Two critical factors to growing in spiritual maturation 1) Knowing God 2) Biblical community

Ephesians 4:13 “13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

The First Factor, knowledge of God’s son

Intellectual, experiential knowledge that culminates in affection for Who He is.

Who is He?

Week 1 - One God who establishes One body through the cross

Week 2 - Gracious and generous

Week 3 - Ephesians 4:15 “15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

How does knowing Christ is the HEAD impact spiritual growth?

Week 1 we saw that God is relational, that He is triune, three in one. We also saw that He is Saviour

Week 2 we saw his abundant graces reiterated to us through the gospel, the fact that he not only descended but ascended, and that in His abundant grace and generosity He has chosen to give us a gift.

Today we see that He is not only One, not only is He victorious and gracious, He is the Head of the body.

If He is the Head, it then is Him that causes us to function properly and to grow.

Colossians 2:18-19Colossians 2:18-19 “18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19 and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.”

GH illustration, the head causes growth

The way we function best is when we are submitted to Christ, and growing in our knowledge of Christ. It allows us to mature, in our presentation of Christ.

Our spiritual vitality is dependent on our connection to Christ. The quickest form of physical death is decapitation. It is the same spiritually.

Eph 2:1-6 “1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

If you are not connected to Christ, He wants to connect with you. If you are connected to Jesus He wants you to GROW. In your understanding of Who He is and in your obedience.

Two critical factors to growing in spiritual maturation 1) Knowing God 2) Biblical community

The Second Factor, maintaining unity within Biblical community

Our maturity not only requires knowledge of God but also community found in unity. Eph 4:13 “13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

cut a body part off - it decays, it dies

Cells grow in connectivity, in community with one another so we also are to grow in community

Isolation & loneliness our one of the quickest roads to depression and suicide. Further they are one of the quickest roads to spiritual backsliding because we weren’t meant to do it alone.

So not only is it important that we are found in unity within our biblical community, but also that we promote growth within our biblical community.

Eph 4:15 “15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

Ephesians 4:16 “16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

But How we grow, ultimately, unity isn’t the result of our own striving, spiritual growth and maturity isn’t the result of our own striving. BOTH are accomplished by God.

Yet, as the head He gives guidance and direction on how each of us are to function. Just as the head directs and controls our physical body.

Ephesians 4:16 “16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

Mature believers know how to function as part of a body, a community and maintain unity

Mature believers, again we see, “doing their own special work” to help do the work of Christ. So we see that doing the work of God again, is something we do collectively as a body.

When we do our special work, we contribute to the growth of the body. Eph 4:16 “16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

SO here is a takeaway, DONT MISS THIS: the growth Paul is advocating here is the growth of the body, not just the individual. So does your spiritual growth matter? YES, why? Because it contributes to the growth of THE BODY!

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been a part of a group project for school. If you’ve ever had a group project you know the impact it has when even one person decides not to put in the work or effort to contribute. It has a detrimental affect on the experience and the work load that the group then has to shoulder.

How we grow in spiritual maturity —> What maturity loos like

1. Mature believers DO the WORK of God

Ephesians 4:11-12 “11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

Eph 4:11-13 We see here that the pastors and communicators of the Word of God have a responsibility to the people of God to equip the body to do the work of God.

If you are here for the first time and are looking for a local church, find a church that commits to exalting who God is consistently and clearly; it is essential for your spiritual growth.

And my role as a pastor is to help cultivate this. But it is OUR role as the body to DO the work of God. It is not MY role, it is OUR role.

In Eph 4:11-12 we also see that the Pastor uses his gifts to glorify God and to bless the body. As we discussed last week God has given each of you a gift and the gift was given TO you but not FOR you. The gift was given for the glory of God and the blessing of others. Yes, I have great delight in using the gift God gave me, but it is meant for others. We are meant to deploy God’s gifts.

As we do we collectively participate in “doing the work of God”

We not only see mature believers doing the work of God in Eph 4:12, but also in Eph 4:16 “16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

2. Mature believers are able to identify lies.

Ephesians 4:14 “14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.”

Eph 4:14 we are unwavering, not tossed to and fro AND we are able to identify the lies

Part of being mature as opposed to immature is having a deep understanding of what His Word says. The better we know His Word, the better We know Him. The better we know His Word, the better we are able to identify lies, because His Word is truth.

Counterfeit bills, ID the fake by knowing the truth really really well.

But knowing His Word doesn’t just allow us to distinguish between truth and lies, it helps us live in freedom and victory. When we can identify Christ, The way, The Truth, The Word from the Father of lies.

Today there are many cunning lies. An example in culture: “fulfillment is found in following my own desires”. But if we know truth we would know Psalm 37:4 “4 Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” Or Psalm 16:11 “11 You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.”

What’s a lie your believing today? Is it that your not valuable or loved? John 3:16 “16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

What is the lie? Maybe it’s what we addressed last week that being mature and independent means I don’t need other people.

Here is what is true of mature believers: they are unwavering and are able to identify the lie.

But not only do they identify it, they find a way to effectively communicate truth. Again, this is a responsibility of the BODY, not just the pastors, to know and communicate truth in a world of lies, because all of us who are followers of Jesus have become sons and daughters of The Truth.

3. Mature believers speak the truth in love.

Eph 4:14-15 “14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”

Some christians speak the truth but not in love. This is immaturity not maturity. Some believers don’t speak the truth out of fear of another persons opinion. This is childish; and I am guilty of it at times. A mature believer speaks truth as the result of an overflowing love for others.

I tell Zae not to run into the street out of my love for him.

Mature believers speak truth in love

The fourth sign of a spiritually mature person is:

4. Mature believers are growing

Mature believers are connected to Christ and His body. They are constantly growing in three things 1) knowledge of God, 2) unity with His people and 3) Obedience to Him!

Ephesians 4:16 “16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

5. Mature believers measure their spiritual maturity by Christlikeness

Ephesians 4:13 “13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

The txt says that we will Eph 4:13 “be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.” Christ is the ruler for our spiritual growth. So don’t look to your neighbor, your roommate, your teammate or your spouse as a barometer for how spiritually mature you are. Look at Christ.

In Summary, there are 7 indicators of a mature believer in this text:

Mature Christians know God’s Character and His Word Eph 4:13

Mature Christians are pursue unity within biblical community Eph 4:13,16

Mature Christians do His work. Eph 4:12,16

Mature Christians are able to identify lies, and stand firm in truth (be unwavering) Eph 4:14

Mature Christians speak truth in love Eph 4:15

Mature Christians are growing (in their understanding of who God is, in unity, in love, in obedience). Eph 4:16

Mature Christians measure themselves by Christlikeness Eph 4:13

#1 & 2 are the HOW we become mature #3-7 WHAT maturity looks like

Action: So what do we DO with this message?

Pursue growth in your understanding of who God is, pursue growth in biblical community and pursue growth in obedience.

What has God called you to be obedient to?

Growth is made manifest in how we live.

Maturity isn’t measured in intellectual knowledge. It’s not measured by age.

It’s measured by the degree to which our thoughts, desires, actions look like Jesus.

What is an area of your life that needs to not be conformed to the patterns of this world but transformed into the image of Christ that you may display spiritual maturity?

Benediction: Philippians 1:6 “6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Extra

How do we cultivate maturity? Eph 4:11-13 tells us 1) knowledge of Who God is 2) Unity

Mature Christians know God’s Character and His Word Eph 4:13

Mature Christians are pursue unity within biblical community Eph 4:13

The main point of Eph 4:11-13 is that spiritual maturity is the result of understanding Who God is and as a response increasing in the extend to which we reflect His character to the world around us.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 4:14–16

From the Head (cf. 1:22; 5:23; Col. 1:18) the body derives its whole capacity for growth and activity (Eph. 4:16). Each member of the body is joined (2:21) by being carefully fitted together, and each member is held or brought together by means of every supporting ligament (cf. Col. 2:19) according to the standard (kata, with the accusative) of the measured working (metrō, from metron) of each individual. This causes the body of Christ to grow (cf. Eph. 4:15) and build itself up (cf. v. 12) in love. The phrase “in love” occurs three times (vv. 2, 15–16), thus pointing to the way unity is maintained. Significantly the word “measure” (metron) is also used three times in this context (vv. 7, 13, 16). Each believer is to function in Christ’s body by God’s enabling grace in accord with the measure of the gift Christ bestowed on him (v. 7). When each believer accomplishes that measure, then the church grows properly (v. 16), coming ultimately to the measure of Christlikeness (v. 13). Stunted growth comes when one does not allow his or others’ gifts to function.

The preservation of unity is the responsibility of God’s gifted people in the church (vv. 7–16). In this unity of structure is variety of function. Paul emphasized body growth, not self-growth. Each individual contributes to this unified growth as he allows his particular gift(s) to function.

Pursue growth in your understanding of who God is. Grow in community. When we do, we Grow in obedience, USE your gifts, because when you do, WE collectively become the body, the vehicle through which this world will taste and see the goodness of God.

The same way our physical body is the vehicle through which our spirit experiences this world. Is the way we as the body of Christ, not the building of Christ, become the active way in which the Holy Spirit engages the world.

What does Jesus look like? What is one area of your life that you can conform to His image?

The reality is, is that we either live in sin or we have a desire to live a life free from sin. The latter is the work of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life. It is a sign of our salvation. But the former, is childish. Living a life of sin, is living as we see best. Living without regard to who God is or what He has said. I am confident of this: that all of you have seen the negative affects of sin in your life, in your relationships and in this world. It is my hope that the Spirit that the spirit would cultivate in us a desire to live in Victory over sin, death and the devil. This is a sign not only of salvation but of spiritual maturity.

Maturity is challenging . perhaps you remember the first time you left for college. And as your parents drove away, you realized simultaneously you had a hightened sense of freedom and responsibility in that moment. No one looking over your shoulder. But choosing to do what’s right is hard, especially in our current day. It requires maturity. So how do we cultivate maturity in a culture that makes it so enticing to be like Peter Pan and never grow up.

How? 4:13, By presenting each week Who God is that we might be united to Him and to one another. that we might grow and mature in our knowledge of who God is and our maturity of portraying who God is.

by communicating clearly who God is and how we respond to Him. When we understand Who God is we understand What He does. Because doing flows from being. What we do flows from who we are. So if we understand who God and who we are than what we do gradually begins to change. And when we grow in our understanding of Who He is, it not only allows us to grow in our obedience to Him but it increases our unity.

Eph 4:11 “He gave” or “Christ gave” we have been given gifts that God might be glorified and others might be blessed.

So my gifts are meant to bless you! But here’s the reality God has given each of you a gift, and as we talked about last week, our gifts are meant to function as rivers not reservoirs so we are meant to deploy them to benefit others! In other words, God doesn’t just give us a gift for the sake of ourselves but for the sake of others!

Eph 4:11 “11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.”

Not only did He give gifts to “each one” of us. He also gave the church a gift, a communicator of the Word of God. Why is this critical? b/c 2 Tim 3:16-17 “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”

before we look at how we grow spiritually let’s ask the question: why is it critical that we mature spiritually?

Or maybe here’s a simpler question, why do you want to grow in your knowledge academically? Why do you want to grow in your abilities athletically? Because when we grow in these areas it provides us the opportunity to thrive. Likewise we ought to desire spiritual growth because as we mature we experience more joy.

This is radical because its contrary to what the world tells us. The world tells us that Jesus has come to steal our joy to give us a list of restrictions. And I think it’s this type of a view of religion that limits our desire for spiritual growth. Why would I want to grow spiritually if I am just going to be told what I can’t do?