From Spiritual Childhood to Maturity in Faith

Summary

In our journey of faith, we must recognize that every individual who enters the Christian life begins as a spiritual child, regardless of their worldly accomplishments or intellectual prowess. This foundational truth is crucial for our spiritual growth and maturity. In the church, all worldly distinctions and divisions are rendered irrelevant; we all start as newborn babes, and it is essential to acknowledge this reality. As we grow, we must be aware of the characteristics and tendencies of spiritual children, which include instability, lack of self-control, and susceptibility to deception.

The Apostle Paul provides a profound psychological analysis of the childlike state, highlighting the instability and restlessness akin to the waves of the sea. This instability manifests as fickleness, changeability, and a lack of self-control. Children are often victims of their impulses and moods, unable to master or control their reactions. This lack of discipline leads to excessive and violent reactions, a trait that should not characterize mature Christians.

Moreover, spiritual children are easily misled and deceived, carried about by every wind of doctrine. This vulnerability stems from ignorance and a lack of knowledge, which prevents them from having a standard to test and discern truth. Additionally, children often dislike discipline and are drawn to novelty and excitement, making them susceptible to showmanship and spectacle.

To grow out of this childlike state, we must recognize our need for spiritual maturity and understanding. We must strive for discipline, self-control, and a deep knowledge of the truth to avoid being swayed by false teachings and deceptive practices. As we mature in our faith, we should seek to embody the stability, discernment, and wisdom that come with spiritual adulthood.

Key Takeaways:

1. Spiritual Beginnings: Every Christian begins their journey as a spiritual child, regardless of their worldly status or intellect. Recognizing this is crucial for growth, as spiritual maturity is not determined by natural abilities but by spiritual understanding and knowledge. [12:46]

2. Instability and Growth: Spiritual children are characterized by instability, akin to waves tossed to and fro. This restlessness and agitation highlight the need for growth and maturity, as remaining in this state is a spiritual tragedy. [17:55]

3. Self-Control and Discipline: A lack of self-control is a hallmark of spiritual immaturity. True spiritual growth involves developing discipline and the ability to control our reactions and responses, moving beyond the impulsive nature of spiritual childhood. [21:37]

4. Susceptibility to Deception: Spiritual children are easily misled due to ignorance and a lack of discernment. To avoid being carried about by every wind of doctrine, we must seek knowledge and understanding, establishing a firm foundation in the truth. [27:56]

5. The Danger of Showmanship: The childlike desire for novelty and excitement makes spiritual children susceptible to showmanship and spectacle. True spiritual maturity involves discerning beyond the surface and valuing substance over entertainment. [38:25]

Youtube Chapters:

- [00:00] - Welcome
- [10:53] - Spiritual Beginnings
- [12:31] - The Nature of Spiritual Childhood
- [13:23] - Equality in the Church
- [14:12] - Characteristics of Spiritual Children
- [15:18] - The Tragedy of Spiritual Stagnation
- [16:32] - Instability and Fickleness
- [18:26] - Changeability and Self-Control
- [20:19] - Excessive Reactions
- [23:04] - The Childlike State of Turmoil
- [26:27] - Susceptibility to Deception
- [29:12] - Ignorance and Lack of Knowledge
- [31:12] - Dislike of Discipline
- [33:44] - Attraction to Novelty and Excitement
- [37:16] - The Danger of Showmanship
- [39:13] - Realizing the Childlike State
- [41:15] - Closing Reflections

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
1. 1 Corinthians 3:1-3
2. Ephesians 4:14
3. Hebrews 5:12-14

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Observation Questions:

1. According to the sermon, what is the initial state of every Christian when they enter the faith, regardless of their worldly status or intellect? [11:09]

2. How does the Apostle Paul describe the instability of spiritual children, and what imagery does he use to illustrate this? [17:05]

3. What are some characteristics of spiritual children that make them susceptible to deception, as mentioned in the sermon? [27:34]

4. What does the sermon suggest is the danger of showmanship for spiritual children? [37:32]

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Interpretation Questions:

1. How does the concept of starting as a spiritual child challenge the idea of relying on natural abilities or intellect in the church? [13:03]

2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that instability and lack of self-control are linked to spiritual immaturity? [21:37]

3. Why might spiritual children be particularly drawn to novelty and excitement, according to the sermon? [33:44]

4. How does the sermon explain the importance of discipline and knowledge in achieving spiritual maturity? [29:12]

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Application Questions:

1. Reflect on your own spiritual journey. Are there areas where you still feel like a spiritual child? How can you work towards maturity in those areas? [16:06]

2. Think about a recent situation where you reacted impulsively. What steps can you take to develop greater self-control in similar situations in the future? [21:20]

3. Have you ever been swayed by a new or exciting teaching that later proved to be misleading? How can you ensure that your faith is grounded in truth? [27:56]

4. Consider the role of discipline in your spiritual life. What practical steps can you take to embrace discipline and deepen your understanding of the truth? [31:12]

5. How do you discern between genuine spiritual growth opportunities and mere showmanship or spectacle? What criteria do you use to evaluate them? [37:32]

6. Identify one area in your life where you can practice discernment to avoid being misled by false teachings. What resources or practices can help you in this process? [29:38]

7. Reflect on a time when you were drawn to something new and exciting in your spiritual life. How did it impact your faith, and what did you learn from that experience? [33:44]

Devotional

Day 1: Spiritual Beginnings: Embracing Our Childlike Start
In the Christian journey, every believer begins as a spiritual child, irrespective of their worldly achievements or intellectual capabilities. This foundational truth is vital for spiritual growth and maturity. Recognizing that spiritual maturity is not determined by natural abilities but by spiritual understanding and knowledge is crucial. In the church, worldly distinctions and divisions become irrelevant, as all believers start as newborns in faith. Acknowledging this reality helps us to grow and mature in our spiritual walk, understanding that we all have a starting point that requires nurturing and development. [12:46]

"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food." (Hebrews 5:12, ESV)

Reflection: In what areas of your spiritual life do you still feel like a child, and how can you seek growth and understanding in those areas today?

Day 2: Instability and Growth: Moving Beyond Spiritual Fickleness
Spiritual children are often characterized by instability, similar to waves tossed to and fro. This restlessness and agitation highlight the need for growth and maturity, as remaining in this state is a spiritual tragedy. The Apostle Paul describes this childlike state as one of instability and restlessness, akin to the waves of the sea. This instability manifests as fickleness, changeability, and a lack of self-control. Recognizing these traits in ourselves is the first step towards seeking stability and maturity in our faith journey. [17:55]

"So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober." (1 Thessalonians 5:6, ESV)

Reflection: Identify a specific area in your life where you feel spiritually unstable. What practical steps can you take this week to seek stability and growth in that area?

Day 3: Self-Control and Discipline: Cultivating Spiritual Maturity
A lack of self-control is a hallmark of spiritual immaturity. True spiritual growth involves developing discipline and the ability to control our reactions and responses, moving beyond the impulsive nature of spiritual childhood. Spiritual children often fall victim to their impulses and moods, unable to master or control their reactions. This lack of discipline leads to excessive and violent reactions, which should not characterize mature Christians. As we grow in faith, we must strive for discipline and self-control, embodying the stability and wisdom that come with spiritual adulthood. [21:37]

"Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32, ESV)

Reflection: Reflect on a recent situation where you reacted impulsively. How can you practice self-control and discipline in similar situations in the future?

Day 4: Susceptibility to Deception: Seeking Truth and Discernment
Spiritual children are easily misled due to ignorance and a lack of discernment. To avoid being carried about by every wind of doctrine, we must seek knowledge and understanding, establishing a firm foundation in the truth. This vulnerability stems from a lack of knowledge, which prevents them from having a standard to test and discern truth. As we mature in our faith, we should seek to embody the stability, discernment, and wisdom that come with spiritual adulthood, ensuring we are not swayed by false teachings and deceptive practices. [27:56]

"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so." (Hebrews 13:9, ESV)

Reflection: What steps can you take to deepen your understanding of biblical truth and strengthen your ability to discern false teachings?

Day 5: The Danger of Showmanship: Valuing Substance Over Spectacle
The childlike desire for novelty and excitement makes spiritual children susceptible to showmanship and spectacle. True spiritual maturity involves discerning beyond the surface and valuing substance over entertainment. Children often dislike discipline and are drawn to novelty and excitement, making them susceptible to showmanship. As we grow in our faith, we must learn to value the depth and substance of our spiritual journey, seeking genuine growth and understanding rather than being swayed by superficial attractions. [38:25]

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." (2 Timothy 4:3, ESV)

Reflection: Consider an area in your spiritual life where you might be drawn to spectacle over substance. How can you refocus on what truly matters in your faith journey?

Quotes

"Everybody who becomes a Christian and who enters into this Christian Life comes into it as a babe. He starts as a child. Now it doesn't matter at all how great an intellect the man may have. He may be a great intellect, he may be a great man in a profession or in business or in anything you like, and he may be a man there of exceptional ability and understanding. All right, I say that nevertheless when he comes into this Christian Life, he comes as a babe. He's a spiritual babe, and he's got to be regarded as such, and he's got to regard himself as such." [00:11:02]

"In the church, all divisions and distinctions are abolished. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, Barbarian, Asian, Bond nor free, but not only that, there is neither great nor small. All these divisions and distinctions, I say, become quite irrelevant. We all enter the same way, and we all start as newborn babes, every single one of us, and we've got to realize that. Then, of course, having started with that, we go on to the second thing, which is this: as the Apostle goes on to show here, we not only must realize that we are children to begin with, but that there are certain peculiar characteristics of children and certain particular and peculiar tendencies in children." [00:13:23]

"The child is unstable. He uses the most picturesque phrase here: tossed to and fro, which means tossed like waves. Now, it doesn't mean that we are tossed about by waves so much as that we are like waves themselves, tossed to and fro as waves are constantly in motion and are tossed about. Indeed, we might translate it like this, if you like, pitching about. And there is in the word that the Apostle used, and he only uses it in this one place, it's the only place it's found in the whole of scripture, there is a sense conveyed of violence, a violent pitching about of waves." [00:16:44]

"One of the most prominent characteristics of the child is, of course, as a result of this, fickleness. Fickleness and changeableness. A child is remarkably like the sea, isn't he? How quickly a child can change from smiling to crying. Is there anything more characteristic of a child? You see it on its face at once. There it is, the child, and it can't help it, of course, because it's a child. It's fickle and it's changeable." [00:18:26]

"The child lacks self-control. That's why we have to control them. They're the victims of impulses and moods. They know nothing about self-discipline. They're not able to master themselves and to control themselves. They can't control, to use an expression used in The Book of Proverbs, they can't control their own spirits. That word in Proverbs says that the man who can control his own spirit is a greater man than a man who can capture and conquer a city, and it's absolutely true." [00:20:32]

"The typical characteristic of childhood is a lack of self-control, an inability to control one's reactions and to control one's responses to the things that happen to us. You'll agree that it's a characteristic of this childish state. Then another one is, and it follows from the previous ones, of course, the child always reacts excessively and violently to things that happen. The child acts as a whole, and it acts with a certain violence always and excessiveness." [00:21:28]

"The child is in a kind of perpetual state of turmoil and of mental agitation. Transfer all this to the adult who's just become a Christian, always agitated, always in trouble, and you see them talking together in little groups and expressing it violently, these violent reactions and these violent views. Look at a little crowd of children. There they are, they're terribly troubled. Some little trifle has taken place, and they get into a huddle together and they talk, and they're violent in their reactions, agitated in a state of turmoil." [00:24:09]

"The child is like this chiefly, firstly, because of its ignorance. It is indeed due to nothing but lack of knowledge. The difficulty about the child is that it hasn't got a standard, and it hasn't a standard because it lacks knowledge. And if you haven't got a standard, you can't test, and if you can't test, and because you haven't this knowledge, it means that you're lacking in judgment when you are confronted by a number of teachings. How do you tell which is right? Well, there's only one answer: it's knowledge alone that enables us to do that." [00:29:07]

"Not only is he ignorant, but unfortunately he has an innate tendency to dislike being taught. He dislikes discipline. I think you'll agree that this is true. Look back into your own experience, your own experience of your own past and your experience of children at the present time. It is characteristic of childhood that he doesn't like discipline, and he doesn't like being taught, and especially doesn't like being taught slowly. The child always wants to get on, doesn't it?" [00:30:37]

"The child always likes entertainment and excitement. Cast your minds back to your own childhood. I think you'll all agree that what I'm going to say is absolutely true. It was certainly true of me. The child tends to have a kind of secret antagonism in an odd sort of way, perhaps even to its own parents if their parents are worthy of the name, because you see of the discipline. They're always there, and they're always enforcing these points and these principles." [00:33:48]

"The child is because of all these things peculiarly susceptible to showmanship. The child likes the showman instinctively, isn't that true? And the greater the showman, the more the child will like him. The child's got no discrimination, as I say, has got no means of assessing these matters. The bigger the show, the bigger the deceit in a sense, the more the child is likely to believe it, because you see, not having knowledge and not having a real ability to discriminate and to understand, he tends to be taken in by the spectacular." [00:37:43]

"The child has got to realize that he is a child, and he's got to realize that because he's a child, he's in a terribly dangerous position because of these other things. The Apostle puts them surely in the right and the inevitable order. May God forgive us for being so unstable, so fickle, so changeable, so ready to be imposed upon, so ready to react violently. God forgive us that we are so lacking in discipline and in a true understanding which leads to a true concern for God and the Lord Jesus Christ, the church, and the glory of his great and holy name." [00:39:13]

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Transcript

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