Journey With Jesus: Growing in Maturity
Introduction
In our journey with Jesus we have studied…
-The foundation of the disciple’s life, the Beatitudes.
-The source of authority, Jesus is Lord.
-The divine help we receive, the Holy Spirit.
-The life of service in imitation of Jesus.
-The love we have for Jesus.
-The effort we put into pursuing Jesus.
-Today, the maturity we achieve in following Jesus.
What does it mean to be mature? There are many different kinds of maturity. Physical, Intellectual, Psychological … but most importantly Spiritual Maturity. Barclay says that maturity has two measures:
-Something to do with the mind - a deeper grasp not only of the facts but also of the significance of the Christian faith.
-Something to do with life - more and more of the reflection of Christ is visible.
-1 Corinthians 14:20 “…Do not be children in your thinking … in your thinking be mature.”
What are the resources we have for growing in maturity and how do we put them into practice?
1. Maturity Comes From Knowing Christ.
Christ is the measure of maturity - knowing and becoming more like him is when we will experience maturity and stability. The greater vision we have of Christ, the more mature. Stott: “…If only the veil could be taken from our eyes. If only we could see Jesus as He is in his full authenticity, in the fullness of His divine human person, and of His saving work. Why then surely we would see how worthy He is of our faith and love and obedience and worship, and we would grow into maturity in Christ.”
Colossians 1:28 NCV “So we continue to preach Christ to each person, using all wisdom to warn and to teach everyone, in order to bring each one into God’s presence as a mature person in Christ.”
2. Maturity comes from Prayer.
When we are mature we experience increases in time spent with with God.
The prayer of Epaphras is in Colossians 4:12 NIV “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured..”
We pray not only for ourselves but also for each other.
3. Maturity comes from the Word
Hebrews 5:13-14 “for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
We can never hope to grow in our spiritual life by neglecting to study the Word of God!
4. Maturity Comes from Perseverance.
Hebrews 6:1 NASB “…let us press on to maturity…”
Three encouragements:(Westcott via Sanders)
-Keep moving forward! We may stop too soon, feel we have arrived!
-Keep pressing on. Don’t give in to discouragement.
- God will help you! We have the promised Holy Spirit to enable us to do His will!
Sanders observes, “Maturity in the spiritual realm is not attained overnight … It is a dynamic process that continues throughout life.” We can never claim to be more mature by staying where we are or regressing.The theme of Hebrews: move forward in faith.
Philippians 3:14-16 "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think oherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained."
5. Maturity Comes from the Struggles.
When a mature Christian faces a struggle, there is a searching for God, not a rejection of God.
Romans 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Those three Hebrew youths in Daniel 3 must have been mystified by God’s failure to intervene on their behalf. In perseverance they matured rapidly in the fiery furnace experience. And so can we in our trials.
Ephesians 4:13-14 NLT “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.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.”
That is spiritual maturity -but Paul did not reach it overnight. It was a learning process, dependence on the Holy Spirit. Maturity is demonstrated when we cling to God through our tears, knowing He is near.
6. Maturity Comes when we Resist Temptation
1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Temptation Truths:
-God is faithful. He will not abandon those who trustfully look to Him for help and keeping.
-God is Sovereign. He controls the circumstances of life and will limit the strength of the temptation, for He knows our individual “load limit.” That gives us assurance that we will be able to stand the strain.
-God is Impartial. He allocates tests that are “common to man.” In the heat of temptation, many feel that they are the only ones to experience such a trial, but it is not so. Although the exact temptation may be different, the same principles and escape hatches are open to all alike.
-God is Powerful. He has an escape route from every kind of temptation. The key to the door is hanging nearby. Defeat is avoidable. The word translated “stand up under it,” or “endure,” means “to pass through unscathed.”
Conclusion
Christian MATURITY grows when we know Christ, pay attention to our Spiritual life in prayer, study the Word, perseverance, faith through the struggles, and resisting temptation.
The daily trek of discipleship, the journey with Jesus, has everyday implications for all of us.
Next characteristic of discipleship: Compassion
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Through Your Tears: Sorrow From Loss, Hope For Healing https://a.co/d/7dxqNJ1
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Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think it is difficult to come up with a specific definition of maturity?
2. How does knowing Christ produce spiritual maturity?
3. Epaphrus is described as “always wrestling in prayer for you”. How would you describe ‘wrestling in prayer’?
4. The Hebrew writer speaks of the Word as either “milk” or “solid food”. We understand this in terms of feeding infants - to more mature children. How do you understand this as it relates to “feeding” on the Word? What is milk and what is meat?
5. Perseverance tells us that greater maturity is always ahead, we never arrive. Still, we continue moving forward. What is the key to not giving up when we feel that things are getting too hard? Consult Philippians 4:14-16 for thoughts on this.
6. No one likes to struggle, but how does God use struggles in life to help us grow?
7. If God provides a way out of every temptation then why do we continue to sin?
8. What else did you want to talk about today?
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Resources
Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series: Hebrews (Revised). Westminster Press, 1975.
Chambers, Oswald.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/708698-spiritual-maturity-is-
not-reached-by-the-passing-of-the
Stedman, Ray C. IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Hebrews. InterVarsity Press, 1992.
Sanders, J. Oswald. Spiritual Discipleship. Moody Press, 1994.
Stott, John R. W. A Call to Christian Maturity. https://johnstott.org/work/a-call-to-christian-maturity/
