Biblical Text: Philippians 1:3-11
“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
What are the marks of a mature Christian believer or the mark of a dynamic, mature Christian church? In this letter written by Paul to the Philippians, he painstakingly expresses his gratitude for their spiritual maturity, and challenges them to continue in pursuit of excellence in ministry. Our text, concisely and clearly, spells out the undisputed marks of a mature or ‘grownup Christian’.
In summary, the grownup Christian has the mark of a thankful heart, the mark of prayer, the mark of joy, the mark of fellowship, the mark of confidence in God’s salvation, the mark of partnership, the mark of a growing and discerning love, and the mark of righteousness. But what does all this mean?
Paul was in prison in Rome and that he was a great distance from the Philippian believers. He did not have their presence; all he had was the memory of their time together. And sitting there in prison, remembering their love and care and
support, his heart swelled up with thanksgiving for them. So the first thing we learn is that a true believer has a thankful heart. What a lesson for us! If Paul thanked God for believers who were so far away from him, how much more should we thank God for the privilege of living among other believers. We have
the love and care and support of each other every day of the week, and we
can call upon each other for help any hour of any day. Yet how often do we remember to thank God for each other?…not just those in our own congregation, but Christians worldwide. God is building a body of people world-wide—a body of people who are just like us—committed to a life in Jesus Christ; a people willing to carry His gospel of salvation and love and concern to a world that reels under the weight of desperate need. The grownup Christian has the mark of a thankful heart.
Then the grownup Christian has the mark of prayer. Paul says that he always prayed for the church. The idea is that he prayed all throughout the day for them. They were constantly on his mind and in his prayers. As Matthew Henry commentary says, Paul prayed by name for all the churches he knew, and he had seasons of prayer for each church.
What would happen if we had seasons of prayer that concentrated on praying, not only for OUR church, but the churches in a particular neighborhood? Prayer may well be the weakest link in our Christian make-up. Many Christians won’t pray more than a minute for themselves, and less for someone else. And the shorter our prayer time, the greater the demonstration of our weak faith.
The grownup Christian has the mark of joy. Though Paul is in prison, his heart is filled with joy. Joy (chara) means ‘inner gladness’ or a deep seated pleasure. It’s a depth of assurance and confidence that ignites a cheerful and rejoicing heart. The joy of the world is a temporary pleasure in response to external influence, but the joy of the Lord is not the same. No outside influence can effect the joy of the Lord. The believer’s joy is divine. It is possessed and given only by God. Its roots are not in earthly or material things or cheap triumphs. It does not depend on circumstances or happiness. Happiness depends upon happenings, but real Joy depends on Jesus!
Then the grownup Christian has the mark of fellowship. Our source of fellowship is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great salvation of God. The gospel of Christ is the glorious news that He has died for our sins, risen again, and conquered death that we might live with God eternally, never having to die. Christian believers have fellowship, a spiritual bond, a spiritual union
because they have experienced the same salvation and they have embraced the same faith. We are bound together around the gospel—all living the same kind of life and doing the same kind of things. We live, serve, and bear witness to the same Lord; therefore, our lives are bound together in the Spirit of Christ and His fellowship.
Then the grownup Christian bears the mark of confidence in God’s salvation. He bears the confidence and assurance that God’s Spirit actually lives within the heart and body of the believer, and bears witness with the spirit of the believer that he will one day be redeemed and presented perfect before God. The presence of the Holy Spirit within us is all the guarantee we need of our salvation, and for this reason we know that the work begun by God in us will revolutionize and change us from what we were to what we will become.
Then the grownup Christian bears the mark of “Christian partnership”. Paul and the church were closely bound together. They were partners in heart. Paul loved them as he loved himself; he held them ever so dear to his heart and they constantly filled his thoughts. They were partners in his sufferings. They sympathized with him. What one felt, the others experienced also. It’s quite a striking picture of the kind of sympathy we need to express, one for another. We are partners in joy AND in sorrow. How else can we bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ? (Galatians 6:2).
They were partners in the gospel. Unlike many who feared the ramifications of the Roman government, the Philippians had not given up the gospel, nor had they become silent or complacent in sharing the gospel. The church and its members were actively defending the cause of Christ and witnessing to His saving grace. They took the great commission of Our Lord seriously.
Grownup Christians bear the mark of a growing and discerning love. It is a love that never focuses upon good feelings. If we truly love someone, we not only want to know a person but we want to learn all we can about the person. We want to gather all the intelligence and facts possible and discern them so that we can please them. We need to know more and more about Christ, but we also need to know more and more about each other. The more we know about Christ and each other, the more our love for each other will grow.
Then Grownup Christians bear the mark of righteousness. Righteousness means two simple but profound things. It means to be right and to do right. There are many who stress being righteous and neglect doing righteousness. These are the immature Christians who go out and do pretty much as they desire. They think their behavior will not affect their salvation. They think that no matter what they do, they will still be acceptable to God. That’s FALSE RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The Bible teaches nothing about being righteous without living righteously. It teaches nothing of being acceptable to God without being made righteous in Christ Jesus. And the only bible some unsaved sinner may ever know is the bible that you LIVE every day.
The grownup Christian can withstand perilous times.
He can weather temptation and persecution.
He can hold on when everyone else is going belly up;
Because his life does not consist in meat and drink, or the comforts that this world offers. He is rooted and grounded in a life with Christ, and he is determined to press toward the mark of a higher calling.
Are you pressing and maturing for Christ?
Are you able to cast off the cares of this world as nothing more than temporary distractions on your road to eternity?
The world is rapidly changing, and Christians are being called to grow up in faith.
We are charged to “henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Ephesians 4:15)
