Christian Growth: Adult

We move today into Adulthood. Adulthood, Spiritual maturity is our goal.

And Maturity is significantly more capable than Immaturity.

As the apostle said:

1 Corinthians 13:11 KJV 1900

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

What are these childish things?

Ignorance and Foolishness/childish.

What then are the marks of Spiritual Maturity?

This will be our study for today.

Whilst we could list dozens of mature traits i have chosen 3 that I believe are both highly empowering and easy to recognize.

1: Worldly things lose their importance.

As the wonderful hymn says:

“And the things of the world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”

An excellent example of this is seen in what the bible says about Moses.

Hebrews 11:24–26 KJV 1900

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

Notice that Moses “became of age”, that is, Moses grew up and became a man.

As a man:

Moses had a choice of lifestyles:

Be called a child of Pharaoh and enjoy the worldly pleasures of that identity.

Or

Be called a child of God, give up the shallow and temporary worldly pleasures and embrace the eternal and wonderful Spiritual blessings of God.

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This is a choice that each of us will, not might, but WILL make - and many, if not most, have unconsciously already made this choice.

It is the choice that Psalm 1 calls us to make:

Psalm 1:1–2 KJV 1900

Blessed is the man That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Will you walk in the counsel of the ungodly or the Godly?

Will you stand in the path of sinners or the path of saints?

Will you sit in the seat of the scornful or of the sanctified?

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Children are often brought low by the influence of their friends.

Many a parent will tell you through tears how their once polite, hard working child threw their life away as a result of poor friend choices.

An adult is well aware however of what the bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:33 KJV 1900

33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

2: A stable and secure identity in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul said it like this:

1 Corinthians 4:3–4 KJV 1900

But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

This means that the mature christian is “unfazed” by BOTH Persecution OR Praise.

A key difference between Immaturity and Maturity is whether your Worth is extrinsic or intrinsic.

An immature child who gets accustomed to external praise becomes an adult who NEEDS external praise.

Now, we all need to feel appreciated, loved and needed. But, maturity is knowing that we only need these things from the people we love and not from the “world”.

Anyone who can replace you is not a worthy judge of you.

similarly

An immature child who gets accustomed to bullying, persecution or neglect will becomes an adult who has no understanding of worth and lives constantly defeated by the opinions of people.

This can never result in Spiritual victory!

Galatians 1:10 KJV 1900

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

So maturity is developing an immunity to the opinions of people, whether praise or attack.

Finally:

3: The Ability to see God’s hand at work.

Joseph is a mighty example of this.

Joseph suffered such terrible mistreatment at the hands of so many people.

Hated by his brothers.

Sold into slavery.

Falsely accused of rape.

Sent to prison.

Forgotten by those he helped.

In each of these instances of injustice it would be normal to ask “Why has God abandoned me?”.

And bitterness is an attitude that would have been so easy to grow!

7 years he spend in prison!

Yet despite every evidence that God had seemingly abandoned him, Joseph still said:

Genesis 45:5–7 KJV 1900

Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

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I want you to notice the spiritual insight of maturity:

In the Natural what happened to Joseph was unfair and evil.

It was evil to sell his into slavery.

It was evil to falsely accuse him of rape.

It was evil that an Innocent man spent 7 years in prison.

And an immature person can only perceive what happens in the natural.

The bible has a specific name for this:

Carnality.

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 KJV 1900

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Notice that carnality is a characteristic of immaturity.

The opposite of Carnality is:

Spiritual Maturity.

Maturity is seeing past the Natural into the Spiritual!

As Elisha prayed for his friend who only saw the natural army of their enemies surrounding them:

2 Kings 6:16–17 KJV 1900

And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

This is what Joseph had.

He was able to see and act, NOT on the circumstances of his life, but on the Providence of God.

However:

Do not assume that Joseph was unaffected by these evils.

Do not image Joseph in court, being unjustly sentenced to prison for rape, sitting there singing “to God be the glory”.

What was done to Joseph was evil and unjust and i am sure than Joseph was deeply hurt, deeply confused in each moment of pain.

It was only at the end, when he saw the big picture that he understood the full providence of God.

BUT, in his pain and in his confusion - he never ALLOWED bitterness to enter in - EVEN BEFORE he understood God’s Providence.

I say this because I do not want you to thing that even as a mature christian you are not “allowed” to feel hurt, pain, disappointment, confusion.

Mature adults feel things things all the time!

The difference is that maturity RESPONDS with the hope of Faith and not the hope of Vengeance.

Conclusion:

We are all born as babes in Christ.

Ravenously hungry but also ridiculously ignorant.

As we feed on the Word we all enter Childhood.

A time of exemplary faith but also of extreme childishness.

When we decide to then put away childish things we enter adulthood.

We are less interested in the things of the world.

We becomes less affected by the opinions of the world.

We develop eyes that we may see the providence of God.

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We may not always be examples of perfect adults, often displaying childish tendencies again, but our life is characterized by a dedication to seek first the Kingdom of God and a thirst NOT for the world, but for His Righteousness.