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Philippians 3 tonight. Tremendous, tremendous. Wait
a minute, did I say Philippians? Chapter 3. I'd love to preach
on the whole chapter tonight. but we won't even attempt that. Some tremendous, tremendous truths
here, things that I think will be a real blessing to us. And
as we read this portion of this chapter together, I want you
to be thinking with me about spiritual maturity. Spiritual
maturity. I am convinced that one of the
strongest things that a church can have in order to grow and
be what it ought to be is a group, a nucleus, a body of people who
have spiritual maturity. People who are just able to be
confident in their own relationship with the Lord and are able to
exude that confidence in their relationship with other people.
And I see much of this taking place now here at Faith Baptist
Church as some folks are growing and taking a stand and doing
it in a balanced, mature sort of a way. I wonder what the citizens
of Greenville and those in the Christian community, if there
be such a thing, as perhaps there is, I wonder what those folks
think of when they think of Faith Baptist Church. What do you suppose
they think of? Do they think of a building? A grocery store? Do they think
of a preacher? There have been various impressions
that I believe Greenville has had of our church since I've
been here. I think there would have been
a time when someone said, I go to faith. They would have immediately
said, oh yes, I've heard of that, that's where, and then they would
have said a certain thing. That's where so and so is the
pastor, or that's where My neighbor goes maybe or something like
that, but that's that's the little church that meets in the building
there and then that little building Or isn't that the church that
has all those services? Or I wonder if they now say that's
the church that meets in the grocery I really don't think
that they would say any of those things, but I wonder what they
would say Would they say you know I've known some people from
faith and And they really have a love for each other and a love
for the Lord, and they really seem to want to serve God. I wonder if that's what they'd
say. If the only person someone knew from our church was you,
what would they say? Well, I know a person that goes
there, and boy, is he messed up. You think they would say
that? No, I hope not. I wonder if,
however, there would be a testimony of spiritual maturity. If our
church is going to grow, and if we're going to attract and
keep converts, or people that we can win, we're going to have
to have a testimony of spiritual maturity. You know what will
really attract the kind of people that will go on for God? If they
know that this is a church where they can find an answer to their
legitimate spiritual questions, where they can begin to grow
into spiritual maturity. Can I say it this way? If they
know that the Christians here in this church are the kind of
people that under God they want to become, they will be attracted
here. Did you know that? People are
not really attracted to a church because of the eloquence of its
preacher. Did you know that? I know people
who go to churches where the pastor is boring, but because
he teaches those people, and those people grow and become
spiritually mature. And the testimony of those mature
Christians is such that others, seeing them, say, Boy, you know,
that's what I need in my life. That's what I ought to be. If
there were a prayer that could be answered in my life, I'd like
to be like those folks there. Now is that the testimony that
our church is giving? And if it isn't, why isn't it?
And I want you to think about those things as we read in Colossians
3. If ye then be risen with Christ,
saved, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above and not on things on the earth, for you are dead and your
life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry, for which things sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of disobedience. in the which ye also walked some
time when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these
anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the
old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed
in the knowledge after the image of him that created him. Remember
those verses. Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have
put on the new man. Verse 11, where there is neither
Greek nor Jew, circumcision or uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,
bond or free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on therefore
as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one
another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which
also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. Let the word
of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do,
in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God and the Father by him." And then he makes some
particular applications to wives, husbands, children, servants,
and others that are in their relationships with other people
so that their testimonies might be such that spiritual maturity
would be what is seen. Notice what he says to servants
in verse 22. Servants obey in all things your masters according
to the flesh, not with high service as men pleasers, but in singleness
of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever you do, do it
heartily as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that of the
Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve
the Lord Christ." Now there are many things that we see in the
verses that we've read together. We see that we are to put off
our emphasis and concern with the world and we're to think
about spiritual, heavenly things. We're to put off the old man
and put on the new. We're to give up those things
which are worldly and characteristic of a worldly way of life, and
we're to put on or behave with those characteristics which are
indicative of a spirit-filled life. And the chief thing that
is said here, the bond of perfectness, the thing which maintains the
maturity of the believers and demonstrates the maturity of
the believers is charity. Above all, love. Charity is a
word that's used today to refer to benevolent giving. And that's
really what love is, is benevolent giving. Giving to meet the needs
of others. Had an interesting conversation
with some teenagers here recently. Some of our teenagers, you know,
yesterday went up to Carowinds. And my wife and I also went. Now, I never have been terribly
excited about paying good money to get nauseated. And so we rode
the monorail, and we sat on all the benches. And we acted like
old fogies. My kids have invented a new verb.
It is the verb to fogue. That's what we did yesterday.
We just fogued all day. And so there we were. We had
a great time. Got our feet hot and tired. But enjoyed watching
all of them get sick. And we didn't have to worry about
it. But we had a lot of fun. But some of the teens were saying,
well now how come every time that we get ready to go to something
like this, they always break us up into groups and they won't
let us go with who we want to go with? You can find out why
that was done. What would happen if everybody
just did what they wanted to do? All the popular kids would
have gotten together with all the other popular kids. You know
what makes a kid popular, by the way? He has convinced the
other kids that he is the way they want to be. Okay, that's
what makes a kid popular. And then the unpopular kids,
the ones that haven't been able to convince the others that they
are the way the others ought to be, they would have a tendency
to hold back and not participate in a group. And they would just
kind of wait and maybe get together by themselves. And these other
kids that are the ones to take the initiative and get together
in these little groups, they would go off and have fun and
impress each other. And then the other kids would, you know,
not get to interact with them. And so the important thing about
putting them in groups is so that these kids who are leaders,
who take initiative, who are the first ones to pair off, they
need to be giving of themselves for the other kids. Yeah, but
that's no fun, is the next answer. Well, now let me ask you a question.
Do you honestly believe, I say, that the reason that Faith Baptist
Church takes the teenagers to carowinds is just so you can
have fun? I mean, is that why the church
is in the business of doing these things? Is that all we're here
for? Look, Friday night comes around.
Teenagers are supposed to come play volleyball, watch a film
together. Is the only reason we're doing
that so you'll have something to do on Friday nights, keep you off the streets
and let you have a good time? This is a church. We're here to help
you grow spiritually, to come to spiritual maturity. Oh yeah,
I forgot about that. In other words, we're not just
here to be an entertainment facility. We're here to help people become
what they ought to be. And one thing that young people,
as well as older people, need to be becoming is folks that
give of themselves for others. Now, if people get the idea that,
well, yeah, but I don't like to be around them because they're
no fun. I would rather go and be with other people so that
I can have a good time. There's an attitude there, and we call
that attitude selfishness. And that's characteristic of
immaturity. Mine, mine, mine. Give to me, let me do what I
want to do. And we need to be growing out of that. The reason
we let our teenagers play volleyball is not so that they can have
a good time only. Now, we don't mind if they have
a good time, and we do want them to have a good time. One of the
main reasons we let them play volleyball is so that they can
reveal to themselves what they really are. And then see what
their needs are. You know, you put a young person
in a pressure cooker, and get him in a competition, and let
him lose, and he's liable to tell the whole world how he really
thinks. Did you know that? His guard's
down. He's no longer able to consciously
concentrate on his lie, and all of a sudden, his selfishness
is revealed. His determination just to have
a good time comes out, and all of a sudden, he has to be honest
with himself. And he says, oh boy, something wrong with me.
That's exactly why we do this. That's why we have competition,
that's why we take our kids to camp, that's why we do all those
things, is to help them see what they really are, so that they
can become what they ought to be. Because a person can never
become what he is supposed to be until he realizes and admits
what he is. Did you know that you and I are
spending so much time trying to convince each other that we're
something that we're not, that we're not able to give any energy
at all to becoming what we ought to be? Did you hear what I said? And that is the truth. We are
so busy trying to convince each other that we're something that
we're not, that we're not able to give any attention or energy
to becoming what we ought to be. Now the Bible says, lie not
one to another seeing that you have put off the old man with
his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him. Don't lie about what you
are. There are a number of dangers
in that, and perhaps the greatest of those dangers is that you
will become convinced that your lie is the truth. You will act
like what you ought to be and fall in love with your act and
never become honest about what you really are. You see? And ways that this is manifest
is the pride that we feel when we do right, the inordinate and
defeating shame that we feel when we do wrong. Now, I'm not
talking about honest conviction. or repentance. I'm talking about
inordinate, debilitating shame, guilt. The thing that just says,
oh boy, I just can't face the world anymore. You know, oh,
what if people find out? You know, and all this kind of
thing. That's just another form of pride, my friend. You see? I told you a couple of weeks
ago, I see three groups of people when I counsel folks. I see these
groups over here, this group over here. These people are very
proud of what they're doing or what they're not doing. And then
I see another group of people over here, they're totally defeated
by what they're doing, or not doing. And then I see some balanced
folks in the middle who realize that Jesus did everything, and
they're doing the best they can. And they're honest with themselves,
and they're honest with others. They're not putting on airs, they're
just trying to be honest about things. I'm convinced that one
of the big problems that we see in witnessing today is that some
folks believe that they have to have a tremendously strong
argument, and they just have to blow away all the opposition,
and that if somebody asks them a question they can't answer,
boy, they, you know, they almost are tempted to make something
up, or to become angry. One of the most powerful testimonies
that you can have is an honest fellow who will just tell you
what he knows and what has happened to him, and be honest if he doesn't
know something. I told you about my dear friend
Gary Lapridge up in Saginaw, Michigan, the fellow that won
me to the Lord. I asked him more questions to try to trip him
up, trying to make fun of him when he was witnessing to me.
I was still a lost man. And every time I'd ask him a question he
didn't know the answer to, you know what he'd say? He'd say, in all
honesty and simplicity, boy, you know, I don't know. I, uh,
I'm not real good at these things. You know, I read kind of slow
and, and, um, I don't know. I'll tell you, I'll find out.
But I'll tell you something I do know, and he'd come right back
to the gospel. I ask him another question. Boy,
I don't know. That's a good question. Boy,
you think of a lot of questions, don't you? He'd just say things
like that to me. What could I say? This guy wouldn't argue with
me. I couldn't embarrass him, couldn't
make him feel dumb. I mean, whenever I'd try to make
him feel dumb, he'd just say something like, boy, you know, I'm pretty
dumb. And then he'd just go right on
and just, you know, tell me the truth. You can't lay a glove
on a guy like that. He was honest. He wasn't trying
to put on airs. He was just trying to tell me,
look, you know, I'm just a sinner saved by grace and the Lord saved
my soul. And hey, you know, he wants to save you too. And boy,
that convicted me. And the power of the Holy Spirit
was there. You see, when he witnessed to me, he wasn't using human
wisdom. He wasn't using the eloquence of his mouth. He was using the
power of the Holy Spirit. We said in our Sunday School
class on Sunday that it's the Holy Spirit's job to convince the
world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And you and
I sometimes get the idea that that's our job, but it isn't. And we'll never be able to do
it. We might convince the intellect, but we'll never convince the
spirit of man. And so, in this passage of Scripture,
it talks about Christian attitudes and how we can demonstrate Christianity
to others. You've put on the new man. We're
all one. Put on bowels of mercies, kindness,
humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one
another and forgiving one another. If any man have a quarrel against
any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Now when it says put this on, I don't mean to be facetious.
It doesn't mean to put it on like you're acting it. You know,
I'm just going to put on, you know, like I feel this way. No,
that's not what it means. It means to put it on like you'd
put on a garment. Take off the old garment, put on the new garment.
Wear it. Wear your Christianity visibly
and comfortably. And when you do those things,
other people will see that you're real. and have honest responses. And if you have these honest
responses and they're flowing out of you and you have humility
and meekness and long-suffering, which is patience and these kinds
of things, people will see that there's something different about
you because those are not the attitudes that the world generally
demonstrates. The world generally demonstrates
selfishness, impatience, demanding, frustration, and this kind of
thing. Sometimes Christians do too. And when they do, they have
to be honest about it, and they have to make restitution, they
have to make repair. You and I need to be known for a Christian
maturity, and these attitudes right here are the attitudes
of Christian maturity. Now I'm telling you, I have met
so many people that believe that Christian maturity is sinless
perfection. That's not so. Now, I don't think
that if you're mature, you're going to say, well, I realize
that righteousness is not in what I do, therefore it doesn't
matter what I do. That's not true either. But on the other
hand, this legalistic attitude that says, I never do wrong,
you know, since I have become so strong and mature, I now don't
fail. Listen, the more mature you get,
the greater your humility is going to increase, and the greater
your humility becomes, the more you're going to realize what
a failure you really are. You hear what I'm saying? Now,
the Lord taught the Pharisees this in Matthew chapter 5. They
said, we keep the law. He said, you don't even know
what the law is, in essence. We've never killed anybody. He
said, but you've hated. We've never committed adultery,
but you've had lust in your heart. We've never sworn, but you've
made unrighteous vows. He said, the law is not a matter
of what you do with the outward man, it's a matter of your heart,
and your hearts are wicked. Now folks, you and I have got
to realize that Christianity is a heart matter. Yes, out of
the abundance of the heart, the life is lived. Proverbs 4.23
says, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are
the issues of life. What you and I believe and what we are
in our hearts is how we're going to live and how we're going to
behave. And generally when we're under pressure is when we are
exposed. I know of no greater pressure
that can come on a person than the pressure of your own home. Your job puts pressure on you,
yes. And from time to time what you
really are will be revealed on the job. Circumstances out in
public life will put pressure on you, but nothing will put
pressure on you like your own home. You know why? Because there's
this unwritten agreement between you and all your other family
members that says, this is the one place where we can be honest. Now, when we go out in public,
everybody walk the chalk line, so to speak. Everybody do what
they're supposed to do. Let's not make each other look
bad. Let's cooperate together and
maybe we'll get away with this kind of an attitude. But boy,
when you're at home, what you really are is seen here. You might be surprised to hear
this, but I do not look like I look now when I get up in the
morning. You believe me, I can tell. I
remember one day, I don't know what was going on, Saturday or
something, and I got up and, you know, my hair was all like
a bird's nest and I hadn't shaved and everything. And some of our
young adults, I think they may even still be here as married
couples now, but a couple of young ladies who were in a young
adult group came to the door and I answered the door. And they just stood
there and stared at me. What happened to you on their
faces, you know? I remember one day, the first
time that this particular young man in our church had seen me
in other than my suit. And I had on a pair of jeans
and a work shirt and I was all grubby and we were working around
the property there. And the fellow came up and he looked at me and
I thought, what happened? What did I do? Did I say something?
What's the matter? And I said, are you alright?
He said, I just never saw you look like this. And I said, oh,
okay, well I look like this from time to time. What am I saying? We come to expect people to appear
a certain way, and we come to think that others perceive us
in a certain way, and we always try to put our best foot forward
when we're out in public. But you know, my children see
me when I am at my absolute worst. And believe me, my worst is probably
worse than you would think. And the awful thing about being
a preacher's kid is they have to sit here and listen to me
when you see me at my best. I say this reverently, honestly.
There was a little girl here one time, same age as my oldest
daughter. They were little girls at the
time. And my daughter invited her friend over. Oh no, no I
can't come over there. Well why not? Your dad is over
there, she said. And she said, in her sweet little
way, so what? And she said, I don't want to
talk to him. I don't want him to see me. And then she said,
and I quote, he's so holy. Don't you laugh at that. No,
you see what I'm saying? It was this little girl thought,
well, you know, he is the pastor. I guess they think I got one
of these at home or something. And that when I get up in the
morning, I climb into this thing and speak to my family or something. I really don't. Sometimes I don't
wear shoes around the house. And, you know, that's just the
way it is. That's what we really are when
we're at home. We're just relaxed. And, you know, when we're at home, our attitudes
and our hearts are more readily exposed. Men, it's a hard thing
to have to be honest about that, isn't it? It's a hard thing to
have to be honest about the fact that our wives know what we really
are. And the reason we love them so
much is that they're not going to tell anybody. Right? And the reason they love
us so much is because we haven't told anybody yet. You see what
I'm saying? Our kids know. The only trouble
is that kids don't play this game right. They don't let you
get away with it. They make you be responsible. And they say,
you know, I've got to tell these folks this in public and then
come home and do this other thing. You see? And they really put
the pressure on you. And they say, you know, how come
this is this way here and it's that other way over there? And
then they get out in public and act the same way they do at home
and you hate them for it, see? Now, the truth of the matter
is, we've just got to be honest about what we are. Lie not one
to another. And I'm just appalled. I am really
just appalled at the lack of compassion in most churches today
that causes people to believe, and sometimes rightly so, that
they just cannot tell their Christian friends what they really are. We're so busy putting on a show
for each other. And I'm telling you, friend, that is wood, hay,
and stubble. It's accomplishing nothing. It's accomplishing. You know what that is? That is
eye service. We are men pleasers. We behave
in a certain way because we want others to think, boy, that guy
has got it together. The Bible tells us in Hebrews
4.13 that all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him
with whom we have to do. God knows what we really are.
And I'll tell you, there's probably one circumstance in which we
are even more transparent than we are at home, and that's when
we're alone. That's what we really are. And
we just need to be honest about that. You know, folks, A local
church ought to be a family. And the kind of family in which
a person is going to feel confident and comfortable and able to grow
is the kind of a family where everybody can put their guard
down without fear that somebody else is going to hit them unfairly. You've heard me say before that,
you know, this is the only outfit I've ever served in that shoots
its wounded. You know, somebody's down, somebody's having a problem,
and everybody else comes along and says, Boy, look at him, what
a mess he's in. Boy, did he mess up bad. That's
bad. That's bad. The Lord told His disciples that
sometimes you have to leave the ninety and nine and go out into
the one. Go out and find the one that's in the wilderness.
And sometimes we need to have that same attitude. It's so easy
for people to fall by the wayside. Sometimes I just as I'm in prayer,
I catalog in my mind the lists and the names of dozens of people
that have become a little bit discouraged because they felt
like they couldn't measure up. And they just dropped out. Oh,
that's awful. That's awful. That ought never
to happen. This place is not a museum. This place is an emergency room.
That's what it is. It ought to be a place where
folks can come and have their wounds bound up and where they
can have their spirits refreshed and where we can come up to you.
Now, look, look, I'm not talking about one of these folks that
wants to show you their scar every time you ask him how they are,
but I'm talking about folks that will just be honest that if they
got a problem that they can say to you, Well, you know, I'm struggling
along, but, but, you know, I got some discouragement. I wish you'd
pray for me. Now, at the same time, you know, if a person's
in balance, they ought to be able to say that once in a while.
And then sometimes they ought to say, boy, things are going
real well right now. And I think because some who always complain
are the ones who complain, the rest of us don't want to be like
that. So we say, well, I'm sure not going to be a complainer.
To share the burden of your heart doesn't make you a complainer.
Unless you really are one, you see. So it ought to be a balance. Sometimes you ought to be able
to say good things, and sometimes you ought to be able to share
the burdens of your heart. And that's what a local church is all about.
Where folks can just be honest with each other, and folks can
bear their burdens with each other, and folks can have compassion
one for another. And you know, there are several
things that will characterize an honest heart. Talks here about
these things. kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one
another. You ever ask a person how they're doing, they talk
to you about a problem and then you enter into prayer with them
and you try to hold them accountable and you try to minister to them
and encourage them. I'm not talking about taking over their life,
but I'm talking about trying to encourage them a little bit
and then all of a sudden they start pulling away. People have these
little keep off signs. They're not really signs, but
they might as well be. You come up to somebody, and
have you ever touched somebody with a sunburn? Last two or three
weeks, you know, we've had a lot of people that have been going
out and getting fried and everything, and a lot of times I'll shake
people's hands and pat them on the back a little bit. And I've
had some people, I reach up and they start going like this, you
know, don't touch my shoulder, sorry. You know, or somebody,
I catch them off guard. And then instead of turning around
and saying, boy, you know, I got a sunburn, I shouldn't do that,
they holler, don't do that, or something. You know, it's just
so sensitive. You know, some people are that way emotionally
or psychologically or in their spiritual lives. You reach up
to have a little fellowship with them and all of a sudden, don't
touch me. I've got a hang-up. I've got a problem. I don't want
to talk about that. Keep off. And there goes the
sign. And so you try to touch them
again. Keep off. And after a while, you get all these keep off signs.
You know what folks are going to do? They're going to keep off. And then what
are you going to do? You're going to go around and
say, it's not a very friendly church. You see, sometimes it's
your fault. Sometimes you're the one with
the hang up. Sometimes you need to be willing to say, you know,
I got some problems, but you know, there are two kinds of
folks that won't talk about their problems. Those who have been
hurt so bad by unconcerned and unloving people that they're
afraid they're going to get hurt again. And the other group are
folks that don't want to change. They don't want to do anything
about it. They don't want to be responsible or accountable.
And so they're not going to tell anybody because if they tell
somebody sooner or later, somebody's going to say, well, what are
we going to do about that? And they don't want to have to
say nothing. I'm going to stay this way. Because if I change
this, then I'm not going to have any excuse. You hear what I'm
saying? Now it says here, obey in all
things your masters according to the flesh, not what I service
as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. That means
whatever we do, we need to do it because that's what God wants
us to do. Have you ever heard a person
that'll lie about something? You tell them, this is what I expect
of you, and then they try to act like that's what they're
doing. Or you challenge them on what they're doing that's
wrong, and they'll lie to try to make themselves look good. A person that'll do that needs
to realize that if they already know how they're supposed to
look. And if they really want to be
thought of as that, the best way to accomplish that is to
be that. Let me give you an illustration. I had a friend over in Myrtle
Beach that was a building inspector for the county. And he came along
one day and was inspecting a concrete sidewalk out in front of a housing
complex. He got to looking at it and it
looked a little funny. There were expansion joints in that
concrete. You know what that is? A crack
in a sidewalk, you know? And so he came up and he took a nail
and he stuck it down in there. And it was about a half inch
deep. And this particular place was supposed to have a separation.
It was supposed to be a true expansion joint, not just a groove.
And he checked several more. And he called the construction
manager out. This man was a building inspector,
was a Christian. He called the fellow out and he says, you know,
You boys know how to make it look right, don't you?" He said,
what do you mean? He said, you made it look like
you really put the expansion joints in the concrete. So you
know how it's supposed to be and you want me to think that's
the way it is. He said, I'll tell you what, that's the way
it's going to be. If you know how to make it look
right, you know how to do it right. Not tear it up and do
it over. He wasn't very popular, but The
people who bought the houses and things that were built there
appreciated him because he made people do what was right. Christian
people know how to make themselves look right today. Now let me
tell you something. If you know how to make it look
right, you know how to do it right. The problem is not that
you don't know how to accomplish what's right, it's that you don't
want to pay the price. Right? If you know how to present
yourself and fake other people out that you're something that
you're not, why don't you just be honest with yourself and say,
I want it the easy way? That's immaturity. It's the child
that wants his dessert before he eats his beans, isn't it? It's an immature person that
says, give to me without me having to pay a price. It's a baby that
cries and whines and makes demands to give them what they want without
having to pay a thing in return. It's the mature person that says,
I want it, but I can't have it right now. It's going to take
some time. It's going to take some time. I was talking with
a young fellow about this here recently. I said, you know, there's
some people that let the IRS do their saving for them. You
know what I'm talking about? They let the IRS withhold taxes
on which they're going to make no interest whatsoever, knowing
that they're going to get it back when they file their tax
return, because if they didn't do it that way, they'd never
save any money at all. They lose it to inflation, they
never get any interest, and you say to them, why don't you take
that money and invest it properly? Well, I'd spend it if I had it.
That's immaturity. It's immaturity to say, I'm going
to let somebody else force me to do what I know is right. I believe that our church is
filled with people that want to do right, but they just don't want to do
it themselves. They just don't want to pay the
price of doing it themselves. Maturity comes with the attitude
that says, I know what's right, and I'm willing to pay the price.
Friend, if you want to have $10,000 in the bank, did you know you'll
never get it if you want it next week? Unless you make $10,000
a week. And that's why so many people
spend so much money on the lottery. Millions and millions of dollars
every week in this country. That's why so many people gamble
in other ways. Because they want it, but they're
just not willing to pay the price to get it. They want it right
now. I know married couples that have been married to each other
for 15 and 20 years that are still in the babyhood of their
marriage because they want a mature marriage tomorrow. They could
have had it by now. Here's the fellow who's going
to retire broke because he will not save a few dollars each week. He just won't pay the price.
Did you know if you'll do a little bit now, and a little bit tomorrow,
and a little bit the next day, and keep on doing a little bit,
and keep on growing and being faithful, eventually you're going
to look back and have a whole lot and didn't even realize that
you had much. That's the way it works. That's where maturity
comes in. Benjamin Franklin said it this
way, little strokes fell great oaks. And he spoke the truth. Diligence and patience, that's
what it takes. And so it is with the Christian life. The person
who's spiritually mature has a long-suffering, gentle, humble,
kind attitude towards other people. And I tell you, friend, we are
never going to see that kind of maturity as long as we are
demanding of each other instant spirituality. And you know why
we're demanding it of each other? Because we think that's what
everybody else is demanding of us. When the truth may be we're
demanding it of ourselves, We want it, but we're not willing
to pay the price. Now, like what the one dear lady said, praise
the Lord, I may not be what I wish I was, but I sure ain't what
I was. You see, I've changed a lot,
and I've grown some. I talk to people sometimes who
are just about ready to throw in the towel, and I've been watching
them now for several years. I told one person here recently,
oh, she said, I'm not making any progress. I said, oh, you're
just not looking right. You're just not seeing it from
my perspective. You've changed so, you've grown so, you just
don't realize how you've grown. If you could see it from where
I am, have you ever been away from somebody that you know, that as a child,
your niece or nephew? I spent nearly two years in the
service away from my own kids. Can you imagine what they looked
like when I came home? Hardly knew them. You know what some
of you look like when I talk with you for a while and then,
you know, I see you here in church and then we get together and
have a personal talk several months later? I can see growth. Kelly Greenwood. You remember
Kelly Greenwood? Tom Robertson's brother-in-law? And they were
in our church for a number of years. Now he's up in Shelby,
North Carolina, working for United Parcel Service up there. Kelly
and I have known each other for about 12 years. And he was a
member of this church when I first came here. Kelly came down the
other day to just drop by and see us. And my son John walked
in, or walked by. And Kelly just stood there and
looked at John and said, is that John? I said, in the flesh. He said, I didn't know he had
that much flesh. Boy, he's grown. Isn't he big? I said, yeah, and
he's still growing. I can't believe it. You see, I don't notice it
so much because I'm with him every day. Now look, my little
boy, Joseph, he's the sweetest thing. He's the most precious
little guy. He's little compared to Daniel. When Daniel was his age, he was
a big old robust fellow and still is. And Joey's just kind of little.
Now, if I go in in the morning and I see Joseph lying there
in the bed, and he is as tall as my son John, 6'1". I'm going
to be disturbed. I'm going to say, Joseph, would
you mind coming to the doctor with me? But the same token,
if I go in there day after day after day and for two or three
years and Joseph is the same height and the same weight that
he is now, I'm going to be greatly disturbed about that too. In
other words, there is a rate of growth that's normal. It's
not too fast. It's not too slow. Steady. I take growing spurts. The more
expensive the clothes, the faster they grow, I think. That's the
law. But at any rate, there has to
be a progress, and so it is with your Christian life. Now, just
let me ask you a question. Are you where you used to be?
You're probably not. You're probably growing and don't
even realize it. But some of you here, you're so frustrated
that you're not where you're going to be in ten years, that
you're not going to get there. You're not going to make it like
this. You're going to sit here and spin your tires and continue
to be angry and develop bitterness and get some hang-ups that you'll
live with for the rest of your life if you don't stop that foolishness
right now. If you don't make up your mind
that God's got a plan for you and you better cooperate with
it and quit trying to rush it or ignore it, you're not going
to make any progress at all. Grow! And you can tell if you're
growing If you're getting more patient with yourself and more
patient with other people. I'm not talking about tolerant of
sin. I'm talking about patient and kind and humble and willing
to realize, well, now what are we going to learn from this thing?
And, you know, how are we going to make it from here? Ask yourself
those things. And when you grow into becoming
that kind of a person, you're going to have tremendous influence
for the Lord. Tremendous influence for the Lord. And you'll be able
to influence others both to be saved and to grow and our church
is going to grow and we're going to see some great things. Spiritual
maturity. That's what it's all about. Let's
pray.
If We Confess Our Sins
| Sermon ID | 73141649321 |
| Duration | 40:44 |
| Date | |
| Category | Prayer Meeting |
| Bible Text | 1 John 1:5-10 |
| Language | English |
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