Marks of Maturity - Part 1
Marks of Maturity • Sermon • Submitted
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Lesson One: Models of Maturity Part 1 - 1 Thess. 1:1-10
Intro:
Measuring to a standard
Maturity: fully developed, perfected condition
Thesis: Biblically speaking, the maturity of a church and its members is measured by the presence of Faith, Love, and Hope and is motivated by the imminent return of Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:3
3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,
1 Thessalonians 5:8
8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
Lesson One: Models of Maturity Part 1 - 1 Thess. 1:1-10
Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Ephesians 4:11-13; 14-16
Philippians 3:15
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Colossians 1:9-12
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
Hebrews 5:12-14
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Maturity for a purpose: the coming of Christ
1 Thess. 1:10
and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
1 Thess. 2:19
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?
1 Thess. 3:12-13
12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
1 Thess. 4:16-18
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thess. 5:1-6; 7-12 ; 23
1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
12 And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you,
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thess. 5:7-12
1 Thess. 5:23
The Bema Seat of Christ - 1 Corinthians 3:11-15
1 Corinthians 3:11-12
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
1 Corinthians 3:13-14
13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:15
15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Work Produced by Faith (v.4,8)
A. Measured Faith (v.4)
1. Prepared for good works - Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
2. Proportion to good works - Colossians 3:12-13; 14-17 James 2:18
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. 15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 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. 17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
B. Moving Faith (v.8)
1. “Sounded forth”…”gone out”
2. A church-wide effort (v.2)
3. Not expecting others (Paul & Co.) to do it for them (v.8b)
II. Labor Motivated by Love (vv.5-7)
A. Evidence of the Spirit (vv.5-6) (Gal. 5:22)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
B. Evidenced by Action (v.7) (1 Thess. 1:7)
7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.
III. Patience Inspired by Hope (vv.9-10)
A. Engaging in Service (v.9) - Acts 17:1-5; 6-10
1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded; and a great multitude of the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.
5 But the Jews who were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil men from the marketplace, and gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too. 7 Jason has harbored them, and these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king—Jesus.” 8 And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things. 9 So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
10 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
B. Expecting Christ’s return (v.10)
Word Study:
“mature” - tĕlĕiŏs: complete, of full age, perfect
“sounded forth” - ĕxēchĕŏmai: to “echo” forth, i.e. resound (be generally reported)
“work” - ĕrgŏn: an action of toil
“faith” - pistis: persuasion, conviction, rely upon
“labor” - kŏpŏs: lit. “cut”, lose strength, toil to the point of exhaustion
“love” - agapē: unconditional affection, charity
“patience” - hupŏmŏnē: to remain under cheerfully, endurance
“hope” - ĕlpis: anticipate with pleasure, confident expectation
Conclusion:
Work of Faith = you turned to God from idols
Labor of Love = to serve the living and true God
Patience of Hope = and to wait for His Son from Heaven
Now What?
Questions to ask:
How much Faith, Love, and Hope is evident in my life?
How much Faith, Love, and Hope is evident in our church?
Are we models of maturity?
What does God want us to change in order to be more faithful, loving, and hopeful?
“I am weary in the work, but I am not weary of the work.” -D.L. Moody