Sermon Tone Analysis

Would you take God’s Holy Word this morning and turn with me to 1 John and if you’re new in the Bible, that's back towards the end of the Bible.

1 John 2…and in a moment we’re going to read from there.

But first if you would look up here and let me ask you a question.

And answer it silently, but answer if honestly.

Are you a growing Christian?

Do you love and know the Lord Jesus Christ better than you did last year or last week?

There are some people who are saved and a Christian but they are not growing.

They are not like a tree, they are like a stump…a stick in the mud, and they aren’t growing.

Now, you ought to be a growing Christian.

And you will never know the kind of victory that you ought to know and the kind of joy that you may have unless you learn to be a growing Christian.

Now, when I’m talking about growing Christians, I’m talking about maturity, maturity.

You grow on toward maturity.

You can be young only once, but you can be immature for a long, long time.

You can be 40, 50, 60 plus years of age and still be spiritually immature.

Now the Bible says in Hebrews 6:1 that we are to go on toward maturity.

So I want to talk to you about “Becoming a Growing Christian.”

There is not a person in this sanctuary that does not need this message, and that includes even myself.

Because no one has yet arrived.

So if you want like to get a pencil and paper you may want to write these things down.

Now let me tell you, first of all, what maturity is spiritually and what it is not.

You can be spiritually healthy and not mature.

A five year old child can be more healthy than a 50 year old man, but that child is not mature.

Now, if you’re a newborn babe in Christ and you’re rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ, you’re healthy.

But that does not mean that you do not need to go on and mature.

Look, you can be gifted and not mature.

As a matter of fact, if you’re gifted and not mature, you may get yourself and others in a mess.

The Corinthian Church, one of most carnal churches, the apostle Paul said to them, “You come behind in no gift” (1 Cor.

1:7)

They were gifted, but they were immature.

God gifts all His children, you can be gifted but not mature.

So What is maturity?

Let me just give it to you in a simple sentence.

Don’t forget this now.

Maturity is Christ-Likeness

Maturity is being like Jesus.

The apostle Paul said in Eph.

4:13

Now that word PERFECT means MATURE.

It doesn’t mean sinless.

So what I want us to do this morning is take a closer look at 1 John 2:12-14 and see how we are to become a growing Christian

In this passage we see the Mark of Maturity

Mark of Maturity

One of the marks of maturity is how it all begins, a little child.

You must be born again to become a little babe in Christ, but what happens when a person becomes a brand new believer in Christ…

The Thrilling Wonders of Childhood

They are thrilled and in wonder about their new life that has been given.

All this are new and wonderful.

Look again at 1 John 2:12...

Children live in the realm of feelings.

Little children are wonderful, but we don’t want them to stay little children.

They are lazy.

They’re rude.

They’re selfish.

They’re uncooperative.

Babes in Christ can become the very same thing.

It can become all about them.

If you stay a baby you continue to act like a baby.

We see this kind of behavior in the physical world, babies act like babies don’t they.

Well, it is also true in the spiritual since, spiritual babies can act like spiritual babies.

We also see another mark of maturity in the passage.

The Triumphant Warfare of Manhood

1 John 2:13 and 14

I write to you, young men,

Because you have overcome the wicked one.

I have written to you, young men,

Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,

And you have overcome the wicked one.

Growing in Christ is to become like Christ through abiding in the Word of God, that is what strengthens you causes you to grow and cause you to become overcomers of the wicked one.

It leads into the ministries of Christ’s work within the church body as well outside of these walls to face the challenges of being a witness of Christ will new boldness and strength to share and proclaim to all what Christ has truly done for you.

Can you say that you are or even becoming a worker and a warrior of God?

Thank God for the workers in our church.

The devil doesn’t want you to be strong.

He doesn’t want you to be a worker and a warrior.

The third mark of maturity we see from this mornings text is this...

The Tested Wisdom of Fatherhood

1 John 2:13-14

I write to you, fathers,

Because you have known Him who is from the beginning

The goal of my life and your life is to be Christ-like, which is really to be like God the Father.

Fatherhood here symbolizes the goal of spiritual growth.

You are not to remain as a little child, nor are you to remain as a young man, you are to continue to grow in all wisdom and understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember, growth/maturity is to become like Christ.

To have the mind of Christ.

What do fathers do?

Fathers…Reproduce through soul winning and discipleship.

Provide for others.

Have wisdom.

As you mature you do not:

Substitute fatherhood for young manhood.

Substitute young manhood for childhood.

All three are legitimate and fatherhood is a composite of them all.

Fatherhood has the zeal and vision of young manhood.

Young manhood has the wonder of childhood.

You don’t progress from one stage to the next, you add one stage into the previous.

Now, is there any Biblical character to help us understand what this kind of growth/maturity looks like, and yes there is, in fact this same John The apostle John wrote this Scripture can be a very good example.

John could be selfish and mean like a child.

John was a mean old cus.

His nick name was Son of Thunder...

No only that John was started off as being selfish and self centered.

John could be prejudiced.

John could be intolerant.

John grew under the discipleship of Jesus.