Maturing in Christ
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11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
In a human life there is a period in which physically and mentally one is deemed to be a child.
one’s speach, understanding, and thoughts were childish
Eventually, though, as time passes the Child is expected to grow into adulthood,
And as part of this growth, and in fact the sign of this growth is the putting away of Childish things.
If this person still thinks like a child and undertands and behaves like a Child at the age of adulthood, at age 20 he is acting like a 10 year old. Then you would induce that there is something wrong with that person.
In the spiritual life it is the same. God expects us to grow and mature in him. He expects us as time goes by to put away childish things and become a man.
5 Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.”
7 She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne him a son in his old age.”
8 So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.
Abraham did not make a great feast on the day of Isaac’s birth or, even if he did it is not mentioned, but rather he made the great feast when he grew and was weaned.
When the Child grew and let go of Childish things, his mother’s breast milk, the baby bottle. His father rejoiced greatly and made a feast
God greatly rejoices when his children grow and put away childish things,
Complaining /grumbling
14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
The ideal is to do all things without complaining or disputing.
We must put away the habit of complaining for the little things.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine.”
Complaining, is lack of knowledge and understanding.This is the reason why God called Jobs complaint, “Words without knowledge”
As you grow in the Knowledge of God and his way, you will put complaints away from you.
Complaining becomes very apparent in the work of ministry.
38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.
40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Let us put away complaining from our midst. Let us grow and mature in the Lord.
Putting away carnal things
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
A child has not developed the ability to control his emotion, and feelings and desires. A child is very impusive, or acts according to his senses.
However, as one Grows, one learns to control ones emtions and impulses and so forth.
when we are born of the Spirit, we go to another level of Control. THis control is the subdueing of all the desires of the flesh and of the carnal mind.
Therefore, we put away envy, strife, anger, malice, hatred and all this things.
We are able to discern when where certains desires, or emotions or thoughts are coming from and if it is carnal we subdue it and don’t let is have control over us.
The corinthians believers, were born again believers but they had not yet overcome their flesh.
They easily get offended,
they form factions
They envy one another,
Walk in selfish ambition,
are concieted.
they Fight over little things.
They could not let go of things
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Gullability
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,
12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,
13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
It is not the false doctrine all by itslef that is tosses us to and fro, but it is the way in which it is presented to us that does the harm. The crafty way in which it is presented. This is not only speaking about foundational doctrine, like the doctrine of salvation but also all the doctrine concerning godliness.
The thing that these men will exploit to decieve and accomplish their hidden plot is gullability.
17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.
18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.
19 For your obedience has become known to all. Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.
these men cause division by poising the mind of believers. they do it using smooth workds and flattering speach. They who fall for it are those who are simple, Children.
If you tend to melt when you hear smooth words from people, flattering words from people, you are gonna be very vulnerable to this type of men.
2 Now Absalom would rise early and stand beside the way to the gate. So it was, whenever anyone who had a lawsuit came to the king for a decision, that Absalom would call to him and say, “What city are you from?” And he would say, “Your servant is from such and such a tribe of Israel.”
3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your case is good and right; but there is no deputy of the king to hear you.”
4 Moreover Absalom would say, “Oh, that I were made judge in the land, and everyone who has any suit or cause would come to me; then I would give him justice.”
5 And so it was, whenever anyone came near to bow down to him, that he would put out his hand and take him and kiss him.
6 In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
Absalom converted this people to his way of seeing things, to his doctrine through flattery, and sooth words and false affection.
He was able to exploit their gullibilty and convert them to his theology.
There are people that are really good at deception, think of Judas who was able to deceive all the desciples to the very end of what his real intentions were when he joined them.
15 The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps.
Resilience
13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
quit you like men, means act like men, which means be mature
Paul associates being strong with being mature or being a man.
I believe the stregth that Paul was reffering to is reselience.
Resilience defination: “Resilience is the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events.”
A person who is resilient is not easy discouraged, does not easily give up nor does he easly become weary.
5 “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, In which you trusted, they wearied you, Then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?
Jeremiah 12:5 NLT
“If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?”
The reselience of Paul
24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 14:19–21 (NKJV)
19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.
20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
The enemy has the power to hinder us
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
1 For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain.
2 But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict.
17 But we, brethren, having been taken away from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavored more eagerly to see your face with great desire. 18 Therefore we wanted to come to you—even I, Paul, time and again—but Satan hindered us.
19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Concluding Prayer,
Lord mature me, Help me grow in your Grace, help grow to perfection so that you can use me.