Growing Into Spiritual Maturity | Bayless Conley

morning Church if you've got a Bible find first Corinthians chapter 3 first Corinthians chapter 3 and Happy New Year good to see ya we've got a lot of people joining us via livestream right now from across California Texas Hawaii New York Utah Washington Arizona Arkansas Oregon Nevada Florida Oklahoma Georgia Missouri New Jersey Vermont Ohio District of Columbia Delaware Minnesota Virginia Tennessee Indiana Iowa Illinois Germany Argentina Austria Switzerland France India the United Kingdom New Zealand Canada the Netherlands Venezuela Mexico Malaysia Sweden Thailand Belgium Norway Ghana and Ireland I'm surprised that anybody's watching right now from Ireland Rory is just three shots off the lead hey I guess you can find out later on this is more important good to have you with us today really is I want to talk to you about growing into maturity did you know that the ultimate goal for the believer is not just heaven the ultimate goal for the believer is maturity spiritual maturity when I embraced Jesus is my Lord and Savior heaven it's my destination but there's a process of maturation that God wants to bring me and wants to bring you on it's the thing that God is trying to work in each and every one of us and you know from a natural standpoint if a child is not growing and developing not not growing physically not growing emotionally not growing socially or intellectually it is cause for great concern and the parents are the guardians of that child will investigate and do all they can to see if they can remedy the problem likewise when a child of God when a member of his family is not growing and progressing it is a cause for great concern and we just want to do all we can to help what we're gonna do today is look at some attributes of the spiritually immature we're gonna contrast those with the qualities of mature believers and then we want to end by looking quickly at four things that are essential for our growth in God you ready let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word and we give you our undivided attention right now we choose to focus on your word and lean out to hear what the Holy Spirit might say to us change us today Lord do your work in us and may the name of Jesus be glorified amen first Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 1 it says in I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal as to babe's in Christ 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 for you are still carnal for where there are Envy strife and divisions among you are you not carnal and behaving like mere men here just in verse 3 alone he shares four attributes of the spiritually immature and you might want to mark the words down it says in the strife divisions and carnal I'm gonna take a look at those first there's Envy wanting what someone else has not being happy at someone else's exultation someone else's position or their possessions you know little children tend to be very envious seems to be natural with kids like well it's not fair I want his toy his piece of cake is bigger than my piece of cake that's not fair hey she got to stay up late that's not fair why can't I stay up late if she gets to stay up late and you know we see it in our kids but the thing is is there's a lot of parallels between spiritual growth and natural growth and envy tends to be one of the attributes of the spiritually immature as well well how was he recognized and I wasn't recognized why didn't she get appointment to that position how come she not visited nobody visited me why did he get called upon to sing why did they let him share I have as much to give as anyone why do they get to do that it's immaturity we should learn to rejoice when another is move forward you know many years ago I was actually traveling overseas and one of the local papers here in Southern California did a large article on our leadership college you know at the church here and it was actually a pretty expansive article it went it covered like five pages in the paper and somebody sent it to me when I'm overseas said look you know pastor they they wrote this article and it was really positive I was super happy with it and they actually you know accentuated the different instructors I remember pastor Kenneth you know I had a big photograph of him and a bio you know talking about what he did a little bit about his life and one of the other instructors and their bio and talked about this stored on in the school and that going on and this person does that and this person does that and the very last line of the article said the senior pastor Bayless Conley did not attend Cottonwood leadership college I was the only mention I got I thought well I started it but you know I mean it cracked me up I laughed about it but I realized I was actually quite happy to see pk's picture up there and everybody else and and the fact that they got on that good press and I remember thinking to myself Bayless you might you might just be growing a little bit you're actually quite happy with this in it and it didn't bother me that I wasn't mentioned either than the fact that I didn't go to the school and you know we want to aspire to rejoice when others are you know lift it up and others are recognized rather than being envious of what they have and you know what they get the second word we read here is strife immature believers are easily offended they are quick to take offence and generally very slow to forgive the spiritually immature hold things against those that they perceive have wronged them and they almost always try and pull others into their strife to create sides or as it's put here divisions I remember I worked with the guy years ago it was a very gifted individual but immature and he was over a particular department in his church and he got offended over something I don't even really know what it was but he felt he'd been slighted maybe you know some other departments in the church had access to things that that he didn't or he wasn't recognized it was something like that but it grew into bitterness in him you know the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12 to pursue peace and to be diligent lest any root of bitterness spring up in you causing trouble in defiling many when we don't let go of things when we hold on to things it will grow into bitterness that causes trouble for a lot of and I remember I talked to him about it because what would it happen is he started using this language about us and them he created the sides to where his whole department sort of picked up that same spirit of us and them them being the leadership in the church and the other departments is them and then there's us were the ones that aren't being honored and aren't being favored and you know it's us in them and I I remember talking to him and he just couldn't see it at all you know just felt like they they had been wrong and you know I don't have time to tell you all of the trouble did that cause then the division you know that that brought in that church but but it is like I said an attribute of the spiritually immature and it can be over you know the most petty things one of our guest speakers who's actually spoken at Cottonwood for like 25 almost 30 years now I was talking to him one day and he he travels the nation speaking and he said Bayless I was just in a church that I go to every year and that the attendance was down like 30 or 40 percent he says so I asked the pastor what happened he said the pastor said we had a church split he said I'm so sorry well what was it over pastor said doughnuts she said doughnuts he said yeah doughnuts he said we had you know every Tuesday night this big volunteer meeting you know that little music and somebody bring a word and just sort of fellowship and there was a guy that led the whole you know volunteer you know deal in the church and we would provide doughnuts from so we don't bring whatever it was you know eight or ten dozen doughnuts in for all the volunteers he said but yeah every time they get done it looked like they had a doughnut war in there there was pieces of doughnuts all over the floor powdered sugar down the hallways what look like they've been rolling doughnuts down the hallway and so we talked to him said look you know it's not fair the maintenance people are complaining you know I've got a lot of extra work to do after you guys get through you know please just just clean up after yourselves it's it's a mess well next Tuesday night another donut war just like pieces and doughnuts everywhere the hallways dirty again pastor talk to him again said look you guys have got to you know be neater and not not be doing this it's just a mess looks like a bunch of little kids with the doughnuts well next week same thing and Pasteur said okay that's it no more doughnuts well the leader of the volunteers got offended said well we're not being honored and actually started having secret meetings and calling people together like we're not respected you know the leadership with his church doesn't value us and he got this whole following behind it over doughnuts and lad like 25-30 percent of the people out to start another church oval doughnuts now imagine standing before Jesus on Judgment Day standing before the judgment seat of Christ and Jesus looks at uses alright let me get this straight you split my church over Donuts well Lord I just didn't feel honored I just didn't feel respected doughnuts well yeah they wouldn't give us any more doughnuts alright well listen welcomed into heaven I'm glad you trusted in me come on in and you know what I'm gonna give you your eternal reward right now somebody get this guy a dozen doughnuts okay strife envy divisions and then the next word we find there is carnal that means fleshly literally it's a person that's ruled by their feelings instead of being ruled by the Word of God or by the love of God that's been poured out in their hearts and Paul writing to them he said look you're behaving like mere men the amplified bible says you you behave like mere unchanged men listen to him from the Living Bible when you are jealous of one another and divided up into quarreling groups doesn't that prove you're still babies one in your own way in fact you're acting like people who don't belong to the Lord at all now another way this carnality of the spiritually immature is evidenced is by the fact that they most generally won't come to church unless their favorite preacher is speaking look in verse 4 then their very next verse for when one says I'm appalled and another I'm of a paulus are you not carnal and he talked to them about the same thing in the first chapter said look one says I'm of Paul another says I'm of a Paul another says I'm a Peter they were they were dividing up and rallying just around their favorite preacher pastor Joel told me one time he was out in the foyer and he didn't tell me who it was so if it was you just relax but he's greeting people and and somebody said Oh Pastor Joel who's speaking tonight he said I am the person's countenance just fell and they said well I really like one pastor Kenneth preaches well I like Peter and he's got the best stories I mean he walked and talked with Jesus for three and a half years some real said well I like Paul that he brings the deep stuff somebody else well I like Apollo's he's got the coolest accent and he's so articulate and that's what was happening in the church in fact Paul in the first chapter said look you guys are basically connoisseurs of good preaching and you come behind in no gift you have the gifts of the Spirit and operation but my friend having the gifts in operation is not a sign of maturity the gifts operate out of desire but maturity that is a sign or rather unity is a sign of maturity it's not being eloquent it's not having the gifts operating unity as a sign of maturity disunity being fragment is a sign of immaturity another common symptom of spiritual immaturity is pride first Timothy chapter 3 Paul writes as him and he says listen don't put a new convert don't put someone newly come to the faith in a position of leadership said lest they fall into a temptation and become puffed up with pride end up in the same condemnation that the devil experienced and there's a tendency with those newly come to the faith to get puffed up in pride especially if they're given leadership roles right away so the scripture actually warns against it says be careful about that and I think it's even more dangerous when a person has a very charismatic personality or they're really gifted it's important for us to remember that regardless of what we have whatever kind of gifting whatever kind of magnetic personality it might be that everything ultimately has come to us because of the undeserved favor of God we didn't work for any of it our selves in fact look at 1st Corinthians chapter 4 verses 6 & 7 Paul writes now these things brethren I have figuratively transferred to myself and the Paulus for your sakes that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written that one of you may be puffed up on behalf of one against the other for who makes you differ from another and what did you have that you did not receive now if you did indeed receive it why do you boast as if you had not received it and everything has come to us as a gift from God and then another I think a common tendency of the immature is that they can fall into error they are vulnerable to error Jim look at or listen to these verses Ephesians 4 verses 13 and 14 this is from the New Living Translation it says 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 that they sound like the truth said the spiritually mature that they tend to be blown about with every new wind of teaching you know I was in the ballpark last year watching my grandson's play Little League and I'm sitting in the stands and there's a dad there who's supposed to be watching as a little toddler but he's watching the older son playing the game I guess mom went to the snack shack or something and so dad's being a typical dad he's kind of glued to the game and the toddlers just crawling around in the dirt like underneath the stands and I watched this kid grab a handful of sunflower seed shells that somebody spit out like three weeks before and a bunch of dirt and stuffing into his mouth I mean go ahead buddy he goes what I said your kid he just crammed a bunch of stuff in his mouth slow a hole not again he gets down there and he's pulling all these you know icky sunflower seeds shells and now mud out of his kid's mouth I remember my own kids and watched all my grandkids do it when they were little you know they'd crawl along the floor whatever they found it went right into the laboratory straight into their mouth if it was a toy they put it in their mouth if it was a penny they put it in their mouth if it was a dead moth right in their mouth and you know people newly come to the faith they're not yet established in good doctrine and there's a tendency for them to go after everything that sounds good listen you older believers we have a responsibility to help guard the younger believers and make sure they become established in sound doctrine but it is one of their tendencies that they'll tend to go after this and go after that now on the other hand those that are spiritually mature obvious they're going to be displaying the opposite of these qualities that we've been discussing they're not envious they rejoice when others are blessed noticed awarded and advanced in fact others are a main concern for the mature where with the immature their main concern is themselves my needs my rights my time my feelings my ministry my place but those that are mature in the Lord they think of others first the spirit the spiritually mature also they are very hard to offend and they are very quick to forgive they refuse to be dragged into petty quarrels taking sides and causing division in fact unity is very very high on the agenda of people that are grown in Christ I was talking to a friend some time ago and I don't know us over the holidays I didn't actually actually ask that but he was sharing a story that the whole family you know the relatives everybody's gathered together you know in the house for some event and their strife between a couple of family members ones at one side of the house the others at the other side and he said you can just feel it in the atmosphere this is ok everybody come on everybody in the family room now we are not having strife in this household we will not have stripe let's get this sorted out now that's the way a mature person acts they know the dangers of strife they know what it can cost and so they do all they can to maintain unity and to bring peace and to bring unity it's a quality of those that have been with the Lord for some time and then they come to church to give as much as they do to receive for them it's not about their favorite preacher it's about Jesus and about being part of his family they're humble strewth they've come to realize than any gifting resource or position they have is strictly due to the undeserved favor of God and finally they're established in the Word of God they love it they feed on it daily he's become their final authority in all things you know I was struck recently reading through Romans a reading in in the book of Galatians where Paul talks about law versus grace and he talks about faith versus works in connection with salvation and he does something very interesting and he doesn't repeatedly he basically brings up a problem and then he asks a question and the question same question over and over again what does the scripture say talks about this law versus grace here's this dilemma but what does the scripture say he talks about faith berthe's versus works and there's this dilemma but what does the scripture say and then he quotes scripture asks you know this this other thing brings another scenario but what does the scripture say and then he shares this scripture and the mature believer that's what they do with regardless of what comes up in their life their first you know their their default position is what does the scripture say alright I have a willful child this girl has an iron will and she she's 4 years old and she wants to rule the household how do I correct a willful child what does the scripture say how do I deal with my enemies I've got these these opponents at work that just seem to be trying to take me down how do I deal with people that have set themselves up as my enemies what is the scripture say how do I set my priorities in life I mean there's so many voices out there and so many things calling for my time what does the scripture say how do I love my wife how do I honor my husband what does the scripture say asks the spiritually mature how do i express my sexuality and way that is in concert with God's plan what does the scripture say how do I manage my money what does the scripture say unlike the immature person that's ruled by their feelings by you know popular opinion by their emotions the mature believer is ruled by the Word of God that brings us to four things that are essential for our growth in God all of us need these four things to grow in the Lord and I'm making it pretty simple this is actually an acrostic gr o W first thing we need G we must be grounded we have to have a proper foundation or a proper root system we had lunch recently with some friends from Alaska and their home sits right in the middle of the earthquake zone and you know that just a few weeks ago they had a huge earthquake up in Alaska did a lot of damage and their house the only damage was cosmetic there was no structural damage but it has a special foundation it was built with the thought in mind this is in an earthquake zone and there's other special features to the foundation the building were sitting at the other buildings here on the campus we actually were required to sink 465 pilings down into the earth they go 35 40 feet down they're reinforced with rebar they're tied together by by you know other beams that go sideways 465 you know these these pillars underground before we can even pour the pads to put the buildings on that's what the foundation reason we live in an earthquake zone we know that now I personally think the buildings are way over engineered and I think that in part because I know what the ticket was on those pilings that had to go down yeah into the earth and you know I think every engineer wants to have a medal pinned on him when you know they're they're building survive just like the air conditioning people that you know everybody's freezing wearing winter coats in the middle of summer put a medal on the air-conditioning guy he's done a good job and and I don't mean to make it sound like somehow we're bigger than mother nature nature compared to man is it's quite large man is quite small but though the whole point these buildings sit on a proper foundation and the foundation determines how high up you can go how broad you can build it's all determined upon the foundation right here's our foundation 1st Corinthians 3 and 11 for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ Jesus is the foundation now I know he is a healer I know he is a meter of needs I know he is a miracle worker and thank God for those things but if you got in because of any of those things your relationship better grow beyond that those things are secondary Jesus is primary you read in the Gospels multitudes following him and Jesus turn and look at them he said you're just following because of the loaves and fishes and because your bellies were filled because your need was met supernaturally that's why you're it and you read the Gospels all of those people fell away so thank God if he even gave you a breakthrough thank God if he met a need supernaturally thank God for answered prayers thank God for divine healing but friend of you take away all those things give me Jesus and I'm gonna be fine he's all I need he is the foundation the Apostle Paul said for I know whom I believed and I'm confident that he's able to keep that which I have entrusted to him that which I've committed to him against that day friend I've committed to him my health my family my eternal future he is the foundation and friend if the relationship you have with Jesus Christ is not the most important relationship in your life take a good look at yourself get that right everything is dependent upon the foundation second thing are relationships God has designed believers like bananas bananas are created to grow in a bunch not individually and believers God's created us to grow in a bunch collectively you know community it's one of the vital and foundational core values of our church we need one another we need relationships and you know I know there's some people this like well you know I just sort of don't have a you know one home Church I just sort of go from church to church where the spirit leads me you know the wind of the spirit blows me into this church and I'm there and I worship with everyone and then the wind of the spirit blows me over here and I'm just free free free not tied down anywhere yeah the wolves have a word for that kind of a sheep's called lunch we need the security and the accountability and the growth that being planted in a local church provides when the church the local church that's God's idea that's God's plan listen to these verses Psalm 92 verses 13 and 14 those who are planted in the house of the Lord and according to new testament the house of the Lord is the local church those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God they shall bear fruit in old age they shall be fresh and flourishing those that are planted you know they found a 2000 year old date seed at Masada in Israel 2,000 years old this dried up seed they planted it and it grew a towering date palm and produced dates 2,000 years it was fruitless but once it was planted and some people that's all they need they just need to get planted get committed in relationship get committed you know to a local house those that are planted planted planted that put roots down in the house of the Lord they will flourish they will be fruitful we need relationships and then o stands for obstacles you need obstacles you need resistance if you're going to grow James chapter 1 verses 2 to 4 New Living Translation dear brothers and sisters when trouble comes your way consider it an opportunity for great joy for you know that when your faith is tested your endurance has a chance to grow so let it grow for when your endurance is fully developed you will be perfect and complete needing nothing you know my best friend since kindergarten we met in kindergarten we're still friends to this day I drop by and see him every once in a while sent him a text I think day before yesterday we still are in close communication and I remember when we were little boys his parents decided he was going to be a swimmer and so five days a week he had to go to swim lessons remember he went to Greta Andersen swim school and I just thought what a torturous existence for a little kid and I'd actually go sit over there in the benches and wait for him to finish swimming so we could go goof around sometimes I'd ride my bike over and just wait for him to finish you know I noticed something after he'd been swimming for a while I still had skinny little arms and skinny little legs and all of a sudden his muscles started getting beta on his arms and on his legs and I looked at him from the waist up and he started developing this V shape of a body I thought what the heck well it was from all that resistance resistance the opposition of the water it caused his muscles to grow my uncle Mike was a track runner he's my only living uncle my dad's youngest brother he ran at Florida State and he used to practice all the time with the track team and on his own he would just run run run and he told me one time he said you know whenever we come to the hills I never looked at it is some obstacle to be loathed he said I looked at it as an opportunity to grow he said when I came to that the hills said I would run flat out up every single hill and just cruise down the other side the rest of the guys they sort of took it easy up the hills but I ran flat out up the hills well my Uncle Mike in 1958 ran a four-minute five-second mile he held the florida state record for 16 years was never beat by anyone running the mile but he looked at those obstacles as an opportunity for growth you think about the church in the book of Acts when the church was persecuted she grew and one of the things about opposition it will reveal in a hurry what we are trusting in and if we're trusting in God we'll find out very soon that he's more than enough he is all that we I spoke to a young man after service last night and he was pretty emotional going through a really rough patch he had been in this sort of great spiritual hide been in a great season of momentum and progress and kind of hit the wall and he shared some of the things going on pretty serious things and he actually started to cry and I told him what I like to tell you right now said if you will hold steady during the rough times during the times when you're feeling the most opposition if you'll do the things you know to do stay in the work stand your knees keep coming to church you will do more growing during those seasons than any other time in your life spiritually anybody can shout hallelujah when the sun is shining you know and the wind is at your back but it's when you're facing into a stiff headwind and it seems like all hell has been turned loose against you if you'll stay steady then friends some things will be worked in you it will be absolutely necessary for your future and for the future of others that God's gonna use you to help some of you here today I know some of you listening I know you're facing great opposition right now God's gonna grow you during this time thank God sometimes he plucks us out of the trouble but many times he strengthens us and takes us through the trouble the fact is he'll never leave us and he will never forsake us all right finally finally W stands for the word first Peter two and two as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby I had the privilege to do some traveling with an individual he's been in heaven for many many years now he did quite a bit of missions work around the world actually back in the 1930s spent time in China established some churches in China as well as other regions of the world and he and I were out to lunch one dad took him out for Chinese food and I think what precipitated the conversation was the fact that I order he asked me to order I ordered two noodle dishes I like spicy food I just assumed okay you're a missionary in China you like spicy food he didn't so I ended up eating his spicy noodles and my spicy noodle had two lunches he didn't have any and he said Bayless you know the Chinese that live in northern China he said on average they are two inches taller than the Chinese that live in southern China I said what he said yep he says the reason is is their diet in northern China their main staple is wheat and they make noodles and that's what they eat in southern China the main staple is rice there's more protein in the wheat than there is in the rice consequently the average height of the person in northern China two inches taller now I kind of said okay but I researched it later and found quite a few articles that actually confirm just what he said and when it comes to the spiritual growth or lack thereof in a Christians life the main factor is diet do they feed on the word of God and then meditate on the Word of God now if you've been at Cottonwood since we started the church 35 years ago you've heard me say it permeate many many times I'm gonna say it again right now you need to have a love affair with your Bible if Jesus terry's and I'm still going strong another thirty five years from now not about a hundred I'm still gonna be saying it you get into the word and the word will get into you friend this is your light in the darkness this is your spiritual food this is your strength during difficult times it is god-breathed it is filled with life read your words spend time if you don't have a Bible get yourself a Bible start reading it started feeding on it start thinking about it ponder the stories of Jesus ponder the scriptures it will change your life there's no growth without it any more than you can grow physically if you don't eat physical food you cannot grow spiritually if you don't feed on the word desire the pure milk of God's word that you may grow there by [Music]

Channel: Cottonwood Church

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Length: 39min 25sec (2365 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 06 2019