For example:
• If we read that one POLITICIAN is corrupt, it is easy for us to assume that all politicians are corrupt
• If we read that one DOCTOR is corrupt, it is easy for us to assume that all doctors are corrupt
• If we read that one CAR DEALER is corrupt, it is easy for us to assume that all car dealers are corrupt
• If we hear that ONE CHRISTIAN is corrupt, it is easy for us to assume that all of God’s church is corrupt
But that is not a good assumption in all these professions, and it certainly is not true concerning the Christian Church!
WHAT IS TRUE CONCERNING THE CHRISTIANS CHURCH? The truth is, you will find two different groups of people in the church.
• In God’s church you will find some of the most DECENT, RESPECTABLE, AND HONORABLE people on this earth
• Also, truth compels us to admit that you will find some of THE MEANEST, BACK-STABBING, GOSSIPING, people on this earth
It is these IMMATURE CHRISTIANS that give the work of God a bad name.
Illus: Let’s assume a church had a hundred members, and ninety-nine of that one hundred were dedicated, mature Christians. One of the hundred was an immature Christian and their life reflected it. But suppose a newcomer moves to town, and the one person he meets is this one immature Christian. It only takes him a few minutes to find out what kind of immature Christian this person is. But this newcomer attends church on Sunday morning, and he notices this man attends church. It would be easy for him to assume that everyone in the church is just like this individual.
Often, someone will come in contact with these people that misrepresent Christ through IMMATURITY, and they will assume that everyone in the church is like this individual that professes to be a Christian. What they fail to realize is that in the church there are two kinds of people.
There are the SPIRITUALLY MATURE and the SPIRITUALLY IMMATURE!
Paul recognized there are two kinds of people in the church. Look at Galatians 6:1, we read, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
Notice, Paul is telling the Galatian Christians that someone in the church needs to assist the weaker Christians who have been overtaken with a fault.
But as he states that this needs to be done, he also makes a point to tell us who is to do it. As he looks over this congregation to seek out certain Christians to assist the weaker Christians, he says those who are to do this are those, “WHICH ARE SPIRITUAL”.
In other words, Paul is recognizing that there are two kinds of Christians within the church: SPIRITUAL and UN-SPIRITUAL. He is insinuating that the spiritually immature cannot help the weaker Christians because they are in need of assistance themselves.
WHAT DO WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY SOMEONE IS SPIRITUAL?
Before you can understand SPIRITUAL MATURITY, you have to understand that what is true in the PHYSICAL LIFE is also true in the SPIRITUAL LIFE. Every one who grows old does not necessarily grow up! We know people who physically have been able to reach the height of an adult in size, but have not grown EMOTIONALLY, MENTALLY, or SPIRITUALLY.
• Much of the trouble we read about in the newspapers is due to this lack of maturity
• Much of the trouble we hear about in the churches is due to this lack of maturity
Illus: It used to be when a person was around 19 to 21 years of age, they began to think and act like an adult. That is different for many today. Some do not begin to mature as an adult until they are around 40 or 50 years of age, and some never do!
WE KNOW A GREAT DEAL ABOUT PHYSICAL MATURITY, we are confronted with it all the time.
Illus: We often hear people say of others, “Why don’t they grow up!”
Paul wanted the Colossian Christians to grow up. Let’s look at a few things he talked to them about regarding being SPIRITUALLY MATURE.
Look at Colossians 2:6-7, we read, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
These verses show us how we can become SPIRITUALLY MATURE CHRISTIANS.
I. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL BIRTH
Notice, Paul said in verse 6, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him.”
HOW DID WE RECEIVE CHRIST? We received Him by faith.
Notice, Paul told the Colossians that AS THEY RECEIVED HIM, THEY SHOULD WALK IN HIM.
When we received Christ at Salvation, we trusted in the righteousness of Christ for salvation, but our faith does not stop there. As long as we live on this earth, we continue to trust in the righteousness of Christ.
Many folks have the mistaken idea that we are saved by grace, and after that it kicks into works.
There is nothing in this world we can do to ACQUIRE SALVATION or KEEP SALVATION. If we could, it would make us a greater Savior in some cases than Christ.
Illus: Suppose a person is sixty years of age. At the age of 20 they came to Christ and trusted in the work of Christ on Calvary for salvation. That is, He saved this individual from twenty years of sin. But the next forty years this individual saved themselves by doing good deeds. This would make them a greater Savior than the Lord Jesus, because they saved themselves from forty years of sin.
If we cannot save ourselves from sin initially, how do we expect to save ourselves from sin later?
If we are going to grow into SPIRITUALLY MATURE Christians, we have to understand we are SAVED BY FAITH IN THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST, AND WE WALK IN THAT SAME RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Listen:
• We have been saved (Past)
• We are being saved (Present)
• We eventually will be saved for eternity (Future)
But in every case, it is us doing the SINNING, and Him doing the SAVING. He is the SAVIOR, and we are the SINNERS!
We LOOKED AT OUR SPIRITUAL BIRTH, now -
II. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL ROOTS
Once we are SPIRITUALLY BORN, we are to grow some SPIRITUAL ROOTS. Look at verse 7, Paul told these Colossian Christians they should be, “Rooted and built up in him…”
Look at the word “rooted”, this gives us the picture of a tree. Roots provide two things for a tree:
A. THEY PROVIDE STRENGTH
Illus: A tree may stand in calm weather, but when a storm comes it had better have some deep roots. We all have seen trees in the midst of a severe hurricane, and the wind is blowing but the tree stands.
Yet, there are other trees that might be ten feet away that blow over. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE? Simply this, one had deep roots and the other had only surface roots. And while those trees having surface roots could stand in the calm weather, they could not stand in the rough weather.
You might find two people who attend the same church, and they sit on the same pew, but when a spiritual storm arises, one is blown completely out of the church, and the other is still standing when the storm has ceased.
Roots are where a tree gets it strength to stand, but also -
B. THEY PROVIDE NOURISHMENT
Roots are where a plant gets its NOURISHMENT. BUT HOW DO WE GET ROOTS? Look at verse 7 again, we read, “Rooted and BUILT UP IN HIM….”
Look at verse 7 again, we are “BUILT UP IN HIM.”
• You will not get to be SPIRITUALLY MATURE by building your Christianity on a church
• You will not get to be SPIRITUALLY MATURE by building your Christianity on spiritual entertainment
• You will not get to be SPIRITUALLY MATURE by building your Christianity on the worship of some television preacher
You will only get strong SPIRITUAL ROOTS when you daily build your life on Christ.
The better the root system of a tree is, the stronger that tree will become. The more we are “Built up in Him,” the stronger our “roots” in Him will become.
To be SPIRITUALLY MATURE, you are going to have to have some SPIRITUAL ROOTS. But look at another thing we have to do to become SPIRITUALLY MATURE -
III. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS
Look at verse 7 again, we read, “Stablished in the faith as ye have been taught.”
HOW ARE WE “STABLISHED” IN THE FAITH? The Bible tells us in verse 7, “…Stablished in the faith, (How?) AS YE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT.”
One of the DISADVANTAGES that some folks in foreign lands have is that they have no PREACHER or TEACHER to teach them the Word of God.
Look at Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
But that is not the problem with most folks in America, they have heard the Word of God preached and taught over and over and over again. The problem with these folks is the Word of God that would “STABLISH” THEM IN THE FAITH goes in one ear and out the other.
And because this is the case:
• Our churches are filled with people that are one thing on Sunday but something entirely different on Monday
• They are on fire for the Lord one week and every time the church doors are open they are there, and the next week it will take the FBI to find them
• They witness to a person one day and they “bless them out” the next day
• They are praying and trusting God one day, and worrying and freeting the next
Notice how Paul said they were to be established in the Lord, “Stablished in the faith AS YE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT.”
Paul was telling the Colossian Christians that they had HEARD IT TAUGHT, BUT NOW IT WAS TIME FOR THE WORD OF GOD TO GET INTO THEIR HEARTS TO ESTABLISH THEM!
IV. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL PROOF
Look at verse 7, we read, “Abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
The word “Abounding” here is the word “Perisseuo” (Pronounced as, Per-is-syoo'-o”) which means to (in quantity or quality), be in excess, exceed, excel, increase.
The evidence of being SPIRITUALLY MATURE is that every day of their life they are overflowing with THANKSGIVING. That is, our roots are deep in Christ, and the blessings of God are overflowing in our life, and we cannot help but to continue to praise Him wherever we go.
While the world in which we live has set aside a day for Thanksgiving, WE CHRISTIANS DO IT EVERY DAY. The evidence of being SPIRITUALLY MATURE is that we exhibit THANKSGIVING.
Conclusion:
Illus: John Newton said, "I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be. But I can truly say I am not what I once was. By the grace of God I am what I am!"
One of the great needs in the church today is for the church to have more SPIRITUALLY MATURE CHRISTIANS.
God’s church today is suffering defeat in many ways because there are so few SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS available for service.
Remember in the book of Acts when the early church had a problem between the Grecian widows and the Hebrew widows? To solve this problem, Peter said, in Acts 6:3, “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.”
In other words, do not select just anyone, find men who are SPIRITUALLY MATURE enough to meet these standards.
They found such men and the Bible says the problem was solved, and the church continued to grow.
Because there is a shortage of SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS in God’s church, we are having to install immature Sunday School teachers, deacons, choir members, and ushers to carry out the work of God, and this spiritual immaturity that is reflected throughout the church often does more harm than it does good.
I. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL BIRTH
II. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL ROOTS
III. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTIONS
IV. LOOK AT OUR SPIRITUAL PROOF
