“A Holy Dissatisfaction Towards Immaturity: We Are Called to be a Mature People”

1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, 3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4 to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Psalm 119:97–104 ESV

97 Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. 98 Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. 101 I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. 102 I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way.

New Testament

Wayne Sullivan

2 Peter 3:14–18 ESV

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Prayer of Invocation

Songs of Worship

Joy to the World, Hymn 87 (1,2, 4)

It Came upon a Midnight Clear, Hymn 93 (1,2,4)

Dougald - Special Music.

Sermon: “A Holy Dissatisfaction Towards Immaturity: We Are Called to be a Mature People”

Scripture: PHILIPPIANS 3:12 – 17

Outline

I. SCRIPTURE INTRODUCTION:

A. Good morning Church. As we draw near to the end of this long year, we’ve been going through a sermon series about the holy dissatisfaction that God’s family, the Church, should have towards unholy attitudes and actions. In our passage today, we’re confronted with the issue of maturity, becoming mature followers of Christ. Remember the Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church while in prison. We’ve talked a lot about Paul this year, his life and work for the Gospel. He gives us a model of a mature Christian in this passage, using athletic imagery to make his point. Keep that in mind as we explore God’s Word together. Please join me in praying for the illumination of the scriptures.

II. SCRIPTURE READING: Philippians 3:12-17

Philippians 3:12–17 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

III. PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

IV. Introduction:

(Slide of Rosie Ruiz)

A. You may remember Rosie Ruiz from forty years ago. She was the woman who tried to cheat the Boston Marathon. Rosie was a Cuban immigrant who moved to New York, where she ran the New York Marathon in 1979 and came in 11th place. Amazingly, this was Rosie’s first marathon, although she claimed it was not. Also, she almost wasn’t allowed to run the New York Marathon, she applied past the deadline but she lied about having terminal brain cancer. Her finish, however, was good enough to qualify her for the Boston Marathon. In the race, to make a long story short, Rosie slipped onto the course about a mile from the finish line, way ahead of the other women runners. She crossed the line in one of the fastest times recorded by a woman, but she never ran the race. Rosie’s win was suspicious from the start; she was investigated and disqualified. It seemed too good to be true that this rookie runner had mastered the grueling 26-mile course, and it was too good to be true. Rosie was an immature athlete and individual. She could not cheat or find a shortcut for the Boston Marathon, and we cannot take shortcuts in the long marathon race of the Christian life!

(Slide of Eric Liddell)

B. The Polar opposite was Eric Liddell, a British athlete and missionary in the first half of the twentieth century. Liddell was a devout Christian who became a hero at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris. Liddell was a gifted runner, and he was highly favored to win the 100-meter race, but he refused to run it because it was held on a Sunday. Instead, Liddell ran the longer and more difficult 400-meter race, and he won the Gold Medal in record time. After the Olympics, Liddell was an international sports star; he seemed destined for a long successful career as an athlete. However, God called Liddell to be a missionary in China, where he taught high school, Sunday school, and coached sports. In 1943, during World War II, Liddell was exiled to a Japanese interment camp. Liddell taught Bible studies and remained a shining witness for Christ over the next two years until his death from a brain tumor in early 1945, just five months before American forces liberated the camp. Eric Liddell was a strong, mature athlete and even more importantly, he was a mature Christian.

1. What Is True Biblical Maturity?

Dear church, there is so much more to maturity than just obeying rules and regulations. It’s all about character, as Rosie’s story shows us. The dictionary defines maturity along the lines of age, growth, and development. But we’ll notice in the dictionary, and in the Bible, that maturity does not mean perfection. We often think of maturity in terms of perfection or some unattainable level of holiness, but that’s not it, that’s not completely right. We should not be satisfied with this insufficient view of maturity from here on out. Maybe we think we are a mature Christian, and that could be true. Why do we think that? Or even worse, we don’t think about maturity at all. Can we be satisfied with that attitude in 2021?

True maturity is Biblical maturity. God shows us in His Word what being a mature believer is all about, and it’s actually not about us. The Holy Spirit helps us become more like Christ, which glorifies the Father! It’s about Jesus, who transforms His people into eternal worshippers of God. The ultimate purpose of the Church one day, our ultimate purpose in salvation, is to worship God forever in Spirit and in truth. We cannot become eternal worshippers until we develop into being eternal worshippers. That’s growing into maturity in Christ. The passage in Philippians, and a few other scriptures, reveal at least three ways Christians show maturity.

2. Mature People Stay Humble - 3:12-13

Paul reminds us to stay humble, because that keeps us from focusing on ourselves, the main problem, and instead focus on Christ. We stay fixated on our identity in Christ and what He has done, not on what we have done. This continual drive for humility was not random, it had a purpose for the apostle who wrote about it and the Holy Spirit who inspired it. Humility is a bedrock attitude for the Christian. It not only keeps us imitating Jesus, but it helps prevent the other baseline sinful attitudes. When we lose our humility, we slip into selfishness, greed, and pride. We slip into jealousy, anger, and hatred. In short, we fall into sin all over again, and it starts with our heart attitude.

Look at Ephesians 4:26-27

Ephesians 4:26–27 ESV

26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil.

Look at 1 Timothy 3:6:

1 Timothy 3:6 ESV

6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.

When you give Satan, and your own sinful nature, an open door, it leads to worse consequences.

If someone like Paul can remain humble, then so can we. We can spend hours here going over all the great accomplishments Paul made for Christianity in leading the early Church. But the point is that through it all he never lost sight of the fact that he was a sinful, fallen creature who had been saved and redeemed by his Lord. Writing in that dark, dank, dim prison cell Paul still knew he hadn’t obtained perfection or had even really made it on his own so far. He belonged to Christ, that was all that mattered, and he gave the Lord credit and glory and honor.

Eric Liddell was a man after Paul’s own heart; although he had reason for pride and conceit, he stayed humble and focused on serving God. He gave up the fortune and fame of Olympic athletics and surrendered his life to missionary service in northeastern China from 1925 to 1945. Those twenty years were filled with civil war and invasions from the Japanese army. Liddell’s living conditions were far worse than the high society settings he was accustomed to in Paris and London. Like Paul, Liddell humbled himself to be content in suffering and poverty, all for the Gospel.

Rosie was different, everything she did and said were lies based on greed, and jealousy, and pride. She wanted to impress her new boss and friends, to make a name for herself and stand out as someone special, but all without putting in the hard work, the time, and the commitment required. But are we like Rosie? We wouldn’t boldly and unashamedly try to pull off a major fraud like cheating the Boston Marathon. So we don’t think we’re like her.

But we’ve cheated in life, we’ve taken shortcuts, we’ve let others do the real job while we sat back, until it was time to be seen and heard and counted. It’s probably happened in school, on the job, and even at church. But it doesn’t have to be a pattern, a cycle, and a lifestyle we embrace or continue. As Christians, as the Church, we don’t have that option and we shouldn’t consider it. We are called to something better.

3. Mature People Keep Growing - 3:14-16

We are called to keep growing, keep developing, and keep maturing in our relationship with God and each other. Of course, we fall short daily, we make mistakes along the way, but also, we just plain out sin sometimes. Like the seed of the Gospel that is planted in our hearts, our faith grows into a living imitation of Christ. The important thing is not following set up time limits or a check list of faithful living that is perfectly handled. The main thing is to show growth, because if you’re not showing some process of development, then maybe you should seriously consider your spiritual condition.

Bad trees produce bad fruit, but dead trees produce no fruit. That’s the key, producing fruit and maturing into Christ is something that we should always want, even though we don’t perfectly do it. It should be the natural outgrowth of our life in Christ. Seed illustration?

Never forget Paul uses the commonly known imagery of athletics in his calls to Christian maturity. Paul reminds us of running a race, which his audience would also readily understand. The Greeks had spread their love of sports around the ancient world and the Romans followed their lead. This not only involved the famous Olympic Games, but numerous games held during festivals throughout the year. In the shorter sprint races or the longer marathon runs, the athlete had to stay looking forward to keep momentum and speed. If they looked back, even for a quick glance, it would slow them down, or worse, they could stumble, trip, or fall down. But Paul kept looking forward, he didn’t forget his past (as verses 3 through 6 tell us earlier in this passage) but he didn’t live in it or depend on it to save him.

His prize at the finish line of the race of life wasn’t a mere stand on a podium to receive a laurel crown. This is the origin of a phrase most of us have heard since childhood, “Don’t rest on your laurels.” In other words, don’t think your past achievements will take care of you in the future. Victory today doesn’t guarantee anything tomorrow. No, Paul’s prize was so much more, as he looked forward to the final finish line and a call to the winner’s podium in Heaven, the upward call in Christ Jesus to eternity! This is the way mature believers should think and live, but notice the Holy Spirit leaves room for some differences among even mature Christians. If Paul did not always agree or see eye to eye with all the other apostles and disciples.

Only let us hold true to what we have so far, Paul says, let us not divide over trivial things. Let us continue in our walk with the Lord and rejoice in knowing Him! Let us hold to what we do know, we don’t know everything or agree all the time, but let us hold to the basics. We can’t do everything, let alone do things right all the time, but let us continue doing good, let us continue in fellowship, and worship, and service. We keep moving and making progress, building on what we know and doing the best with what God has given us, like the Wise Men themselves. Rosie never grew or matured the rest of her life, she drifted from job to job and town to town. She was even arrested later on for drug dealing, forgery, and embezzlement. Worst of all, Rosie never admitted to cheating in the 1980 Boston Marathon. She died last summer, and through several interviews over the years Ruiz maintained she ran the race and won. How many of us always want to convince others that we’re running the race, like Rosie, and sadly the only person we convince is ourselves?

Eric Liddell was the other side of the coin, the model of athletic and spiritual maturity. During his twenty years of missionary work he never gave up love for sports and athletic discipline. He coached sports and stayed in top physical shape, but he also kept a deep relationship with Christ that grew along the way. His faith was mature enough to prepare him for those last two hard years of life inside an internment camp.

4. Mature People Make Disciples - 3:17

Maturity is vitally important to the Church, because it produces disciples who make disciples. Only a mature Christian, not perfect but mature, can make other Christians and build them up so they can make other Christians. Only mature Christians seriously get the important ministry of the Church done; only mature Christians live on mission with God. This is why it was so important to Paul, because it matters to Jesus Himself. Mature Christians like Eric Liddell focus on being disciples who make disciples. While following Jesus in China, he helped produce countless converts through his faithfulness. A few passages show this to be the heart and soul of Paul’s message and efforts during his ministry.

Look at Colossians 1:28-29

Colossians 1:28–29 ESV

28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Look at Hebrews 5:11-6:1:

Hebrews 5:11–6:1 ESV

11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 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. 1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Finally, Paul’s farewell speech to Timothy expresses this maturity using athletic imagery we all know. 2 Timothy 2:5, 4:7-8:

2 Timothy 2:5 ESV

5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

2 Timothy 4:7–8 ESV

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

May we have a holy dissatisfaction with immaturity in 2021! Are you like Rosie Ruiz or Eric Liddell? In the New Year, who are you running for?!

Invitation

Hymn No. 95

Go Tell it on the mountain.

Benediction

Proverbs 1:20–23 ESV

20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22 “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge? 23 If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.

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