spiritual maturity

Phil. 3:15-21

Last Sunday after church my wife and I took our two oldest children to the airport to go back to college.  And it was a bittersweet time for us.  On the one hand, we hate being separated from them for so long, but at the same time, there was a recognition that it was time for them to go, and in fact, it was good for them to go.  Going away to college is a natural part of the transition into adulthood.  And as a parent, we all realize that the maturity of our children is a natural goal.  We want to see them mature and become responsible adults and live a productive life.  No parent wants their children to stay children forever.  Growing up is a normal part of physical, emotional and mental maturity that we all recognize is desirable for our children.

And just as it is normal to expect physical maturity, so it is also to be in our spiritual lives.  God as our heavenly Father expects us to grow into spiritual maturity. And this is what this passage we are looking at today in Philippians is talking about. It’s talking about spiritual maturity.  We are going to see the goal of maturity, the standard of maturity, the examples of maturity and finally the state of maturity.   First of all then the goal of maturity. Let’s remind ourselves of the context we are considering these verses in, and to do that we need to go back to verses 13 and 14.  Paul is talking about spiritual maturity, spiritual completion, and he says, “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

In other words, Paul is saying that  we should be reaching forward, pressing on, striving for the goal of spiritual maturity.  But though we are saved, though we are practically being sanctified by our obedience to the Holy Spirit working in us, yet our perfection, our completion, our ultimate maturity will come about when we are called up, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and this body will be changed incorruptible.

So this means that our goal once we are saved is to become mature. 2 Corinthians 3:18 states this as our goal. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”  As we look in the mirror of God’s word, we are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.  This is the goal of a Christian.  We are born again – we become an infant in this new life- and then we begin the process of spiritual growth, which is called sanctification.  And that simply means we become like Christ. Our lives become a reflection of Jesus Christ, just as our children become a reflection of us as parents, of our values, of their upbringing, even to the point of looking and talking like us.  Not long ago, I was sitting on a porch and caught a reflection of myself in the window, and I realized how much I looked like my mother.  I always thought I looked more like my dad.  But I realized I look like both of them.  I am a reflection of my parents.  And so it is supposed to be in our spiritual life. We should look like our spiritual parents.  This process of growing up, of being obedient to what God teaches me, should result in me looking and acting more and more like Jesus Christ, who is the very reflection of God.

Rom 8:29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”  Becoming conformed to the image of Christ should be the single most important purpose of our life.  Nothing else is as important.  God fixing all my stuff is not as important.  God attending to all my needs is not the purpose of my salvation.  God making it possible for me to have what I may think is a successful life here and now on this earth is not the purpose that Jesus died on the cross.  But He came so that I might be made righteous, so that fellowship with God was possible for us, and to do that He transfers the righteousness of Jesus to us, and transfers our sins onto the cross, and we become followers of Jesus, to become like Him, made once again into His image, as man was originally intended to be at creation.

So  first our purpose, our goal, to be like Christ.  And verse 14 says though we are pressing on in that goal, it will be completed when Jesus comes back.  Now look at vs. 15 and 16 and let’s see what is to be the standard of our maturity. “Let us therefore, as many as are perfect,(there is that word again which means complete, mature)  have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.”  The standard then is to continue striving for the perfection that is Christ.  Now obviously, Paul just got finished saying he hasn’t obtained complete maturity yet, but the implication here is that there should be an ongoing process of maturity that happens in the life of a believer.  And what he is saying here is that maturity should be your aspiration, yet at the same time there needs to be a recognition that we all that are saved are a work in progress that will not see final completion until Jesus comes back.  Yet that should not deter us from pressing on to maturity.  Far from it.  It should motivate us to become mature. That’s why Hebrews 6:1 says, “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity.” Maturity is synonymous with becoming conformed to the image of Christ.  Jesus Christ is our standard of maturity.  We don’t measure ourselves by ourselves or even by our neighbor, but our standard is Christ.  His likeness is what we are striving for.

Yet at the same time, implicit in this standard should also be an understanding that none of us are at the same spiritual level of maturity.  It would be an extremely rare thing if I found any of you exactly the same age and with the same birthday as another person.  Spiritually, the same principle applies.  We all should be pressing on to maturity, we should all be aspiring to spiritual maturity, to be conformed to the image of Christ, but as Paul says, we haven’t all arrived yet, nor are we all at the same place.  So we need to be understanding of one another, and remain teachable.

For instance, as we become mature, according to vs. 15, we acknowledge that while we may have come to a certain understanding of certain doctrines or interpretations, that there are other people who also are saved, aspiring to godliness, aspiring to maturity, that may not have yet come to the same understanding of certain less essential doctrines.  And so for the sake of unity, for the sake of the fellowship we are to have with the body, we do not break fellowship over  non essential doctrines.  Rather, we make the plain things the main things.

However, that being said, as a local, independent body of believers, as the local church, and as the leader of such church, I have to come down on one side or another in terms of church organization on many of these issues.  I have to take a position.  I will teach my position as I come upon such issues in scripture.  However, I will not camp out on them.   I will not make peripheral doctrines the capstone or cornerstone of this ministry, to the extent that if you don’t ascribe exactly to every doctrine in just the same way that I do on every subject you can’t have fellowship with us.  But at the same time, for the sake of unity within the body, we must have an understanding that this church does have a position on those non essential issues and if necessary, we can agree to disagree for the sake of unity and for the sake of the progress of the gospel.  For instance, eschatology, the study of end time prophecy, has a lot of views that are held by many people that differ on things like  whether Christ will return before the tribulation, or sometime in the middle, or at the end.  And there are many well learned commentators that differ on these distinctions.  I have my own view as well that I have come to after years of studying.  However, the main issue is that Jesus is coming back for His church and to judge the world.  This is clearly presented in Scripture.  But we shouldn’t let the things that are less clear in regards to eschatology become a point of division in the fellowship.  However, as I come to such doctrines in scripture I will teach them, I will point out what I think I have learned in my studies, and I would urge you to be like the Bible said about the Bereans, who eagerly listened to the apostle’s teaching and then searched the scriptures to see if those things were so.   To remain teachable, yielding to what the Word says and not forming viewpoints just because it is the popular or politically correct view.

So in light of that, in light of the fact that as a pastor I am tasked with the leadership of the church, let’s look at the next verse, 17 for the examples of maturity. Paul gives both a positive example and a negative example.  First the positive.  “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.”  Now this is a heavy responsibility that has to be applied to me.  It would be much easier if I were to just ascribe this to Paul and not apply it to myself as a leader of the church.  But I think that Paul is talking about leadership.  I think this is why James tells us that not many of us should become teachers, because we will be judged with a stricter judgment.  This is why 1 Timothy is such an essential book for us to study on Wednesday night.  It delineates the attributes  and qualifications of godly leadership as we were looking at last week.  And the reason that leadership is so important in the church is that it isn’t just about a hierarchy, it isn’t about an exalted position of authority, it isn’t even just about who is the teacher or preacher, but it is about being an example.  Living  a life that can be pointed to as an example.

Note also that vs. 17 says, “join in following my example”.  The idea expressed here is joining with others in fellowship.  Not out there on your own, following your own reasoning, following your own ideas of what you think godliness is all about.  But it is important to join in fellowship, following the examples of your leaders.

It should go without saying, that in order for you to follow your leaders, your leaders must be followers of Christ.  Paul said in 1Cor. 11:1 “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.”  The great commission is that we are to go into all the world and make disciples.  I’ve said it before, it’s a lot easier to make converts than it is to make disciples.  Making disciples means that someone is going to follow you around.  And most of us are good at presenting a witness on our good days, on those times when we feel like it , or are prepared for it, but we’re not that good at being followed around and having someone watch us, day in and day out.  You’re either being an example or an excuse to the people watching you.  Either they see Jesus Christ living through you, or they see an excuse why they don’t need to take the claims of Christianity seriously.

What Paul is saying, is that we are to observe those who are supposed to be spiritual  according to the pattern that we see in Paul and the Apostles.  Their lives backed up what they were teaching.  They were the pattern for what a leader was supposed to look like and act like.  “Join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.”  So Paul and the Apostles are the role models for spiritual maturity.  You know, you can only learn so much through explanation.  There is a certain amount of learning that comes from application.  Take for instance someone training to be a nurse.  They take a lot of courses in a classroom, they memorize a lot of information, but then comes another level of learning which they call practicals.  And that is where they actually begin to do the work, hands on.  They follow other nurses, they work with other nurses in a real hospital situation with actual patients.  And this is the more advanced level of learning, where they follow others and learn from others by doing what they are doing.  Learning by example.  And this is of great importance in the church.

So that’s the positive example, now let’s look at the negative example in vs. 18 and 19: “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,  19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”  Some examples we see in the church are not godly examples, but people who claim Christianity, but live a life that is marked by worldliness.  And these negative examples are a real danger to the young believer especially.

Sometimes I have spoken in the past of people that have left our fellowship and turned back to the ways of the world.  And though that can be discouraging to me as a pastor, the greater concern is not whatever discouragement it may cause to me, but what it causes to the cross of Christ.  I grieve over many of these people that have fallen away.  Some were my close friends.  And like Paul, I have cried over their loss.  Because like Jacob they have traded the eternal glory for a pot of stew.  Jesus said in Matt. 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”  Paul here makes a broader application than just wealth.  He calls it their appetites.  And Paul says they have become enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their lives have become stumbling blocks to others.  They have become an excuse to others who were looking to them as an example.

Paul says that their end is destruction.  You know, when the devil tempts you to sin, he doesn’t tempt you by telling you that this sin will lead to destruction, does he?  He says a little pleasure won’t hurt you.  A little taste won’t hurt you.  One glass isn’t such a big deal.  It’s just a little bit, it’s just a little thing.  I just heard of a guy yesterday that was a recovering heroin addict that was doing really well, and then he had a couple of beers.  And the couple of beers led to a little more, and then a little more, and now he has slipped back into using again.  Our appetites are the path to destruction and the devil knows just how to get us to go right back again and again.

But don’t say I’m not an addict, so therefore this doesn’t apply to me. These people that are enemies of Christ are described as people whose God isn’t Christ, but whose god is their appetite.  Their appetite is not for the things of God – for the maturity that comes from being conformed to the image and the death of Christ.  They are not living for God, but for themselves and to fulfill their needs, and to exalt themselves, to satisfy their worldly desires.

Oh, some of them go to church every Sunday.  Some of them claim to be godly people, to be Christians.  And yet their lives don’t bear the fruit of godliness.  Their lives are marked by worldliness.  Grace is not a license to sin.  God didn’t die on the cross so you could have your cake and eat it too.  So you could get a “get out of hell card” and still live it up here on earth.  Christ died so that you might become like Him.  So that you might follow in His pattern of which everything that He did glorified the Father.

“Whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame.” These people glory in things that they should be ashamed of.  You know, the culture of this world is filled full of things today that would have been considered shameful to even speak of 50 years ago.  We’re not more enlightened today.  Society is just more depraved.  I can’t even watch primetime television anymore.  I can’t watch commercials during some football games.  I can’t watch a lot of movies without fast forwarding about half of it.  Paul says, these so called Christians have their minds, their affections set on earthly things, and those things that they glory in they should be ashamed of.

You know, Peter said in 1 Peter 2:5 that we that are saved are being built up as a spiritual house unto God.   That we are to be holy, offering up acceptable sacrifices as priests to God.  And Paul talks about this house in 1 Cor. 3:10, he says as we are building up this house, we better be careful how we build on it.  For starters, we’re building on the foundation of Jesus Christ who by his blood made it possible for us to have this second life.  Secondly, he says, “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day of judgment will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Listen, what Paul is saying is that if all your building is earthly stuff, it’s going to be burned up when the world is burned up with fire.  Wood, hay and straw is worthless, because it won’t survive.  It’s temporal. 2Pet. 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

I would ask you to examine yourselves today.  Where is your treasure?  What type of house are you building unto God?  Are you offering up sacrifices that are acceptable to God? Are you offering up first and foremost as Romans 12:1 says, “I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Jesus said in Luke 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I hope you are laying up your treasure in heaven.  And that leads us to our last point, the state of our maturity.  Back to our text in Phil. 3:20,21:  “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

The state of our final maturity, the goal of our salvation, the purpose for which God sent Jesus into the world, is to bring us into that citizenship of heaven.  To capture us out of the kingdom of darkness and transfer us into the kingdom of heaven.  We should be like Abraham in Hebrews 11:9, “By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

Listen folks, if you’re really a citizen of heaven, then you’re going to act like it.  You’re going to be an alien here on earth.  You’re going to march to the beat of a different drum.  You are going to be a peculiar people.  You’re going to talk different.  You’re going to act different. Because you have been born into a new life, a new existence, a new kingdom, a new citizenship.  Old things have passed away, and all things have become new.  You’re going to be growing into a reflection of Jesus Christ.

And if that is the state of your existence now, then when Jesus comes He is going to change your physical state into final conformity with his image.  “Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

1Cor. 15:51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”