Skip to content 5 Movements Towards Spiritual Maturity: Part 1 Sep 8 · 32 min ...more
5 Movements Towards Spiritual Maturity: Part 1
September 8, 2023 · 32 min
Explore the true meaning of spiritual maturity and how it transforms us in Christ's likeness.
Series Transforming Your Inner World September 8, 2023 · 32 min · Transforming Your Inner World
Explore the true meaning of spiritual maturity and how it transforms us in Christ's likeness. ...more Show the full description Show less Explore the true meaning of spiritual maturity and how it transforms us in Christ's likeness.
Series Transforming Your Inner World
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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The Path to Spiritual Maturity 0:09 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering, church? It is a joy and a privilege for us to study God's word once again. This week, we're gonna be focusing on the 5 movements towards spiritual0:21 maturity. Today will be part 1, and the next time we study, it'll be part 2. 5 movements towards spiritual maturity. Now what is spiritual maturity? Many0:33 times, we look at a person who is, very knowledgeable in the scriptures, and we say that person must be spiritually mature. Or we look at somebody who has been a Christian for a long time and then we go,0:45 that person is spiritually mature. But can I humbly say this? Spiritual maturity is not about the length of time that you've been a Christian or how much knowledge you have accumulated.0:56 Spiritual maturity is to become like Christ, that you're being transformed to be like Christ, that you are conformed to the image of his son.1:09 Not only that, that you're becoming more and more like him. That's what the word of God says, isn't it? That we are being transformed. We are being conformed to the image. In other1:21 words, there is something within us. There is a metamorphosis. There's a transformation that takes place and that transformation is from the inside out that god transforms1:33 your aspirations. He transforms your attitudes. He transforms your heart affections. He transforms your actions. Everything is becoming1:44 more and more Christ like. That's why in our study, as we want to be transformed in our inner life, we want to become spiritually mature because we want1:56 to become like Christ. Hallelujah. As when I look back in my own life, as a 20 year old pastor, I was leading a congregation that2:08 was much older than me, and I had to go through a lot of painful process. But in that season of my life, I used to cry out before the lord because with in the2:20 in the in the in the presence of god, I was my heart was clearly shown. There was a lot of fear. There was a lot of fear for the opinion of men. There was a lot of2:32 fear for conflicts. I wanted to avoid conflicts. There was a lot of, of insecurities. There was certain impulses. And when I look at all these things, I2:44 felt, lord, I need to be transformed. And I'm thankful that in that 20 year old self, god did some work and transform my life. Now in my forties, I come before god and there are2:56 other areas of my life. I still see the impulses. I still see the inadequacies. I still see the insecurities, and God deals with it, and he continually transforms us.3:08 The work is not complete until we see him, the Bible says. That's why you and I, we need to understand the processes, the movements that are involved in spiritual maturity. Let me give3:20 you 5, and then we will study the first 3 today. This was developed by my spiritual father, reverend Edmund Chan. The first 1 is the deep search. Second is the3:32 desperate struggle. Third is the absolute surrender. And the fourth 1 is the upward service. And the fifth 1, in significance. Now let's look at the deep3:43 search. There is something more. In other words, people are always craving for something more, isn't it? Your3:55 lifestyle today is already very good. But are you satisfied? Probably not. You're hoping for an upgrade. You're hoping for a better4:07 quality. You're always there is always a search for something more. And when I look at it deep down in human hearts, there is a search for security and there is a search for satisfaction.4:20 We are we want to be secure. In other words, we want to save up enough for the rainy day. We look at our net net worth. We look at our, portfolios. We look at our retirement fund. We look at all these things because4:31 there's anxieties that grip our heart. What if we don't have enough? We crave for security. And we look at the, we look at the things of the world, and we think that4:43 they are the ones that will give us security. Secondly, we look for satisfaction. You know, people are always looking around and say, if I get that, I will be satisfied. If I have a relationship, I'll be satisfied. If4:55 I get out of that relationship, I'll be satisfied. If I get a job like that, I'll be satisfied. People are looking for satisfaction again in the wrong places. Last year, we studied the book of Ecclesiastes.5:07 The great grand summary of that book is everything is vanity. In other words, all the accomplishments, all the, all the things that he has accumulated in his life,5:19 he considered it as vapor. It was meaningless. Listen to me carefully. Nothing truly satisfies. Only 1 satisfies us. But you5:31 know what? That 1, we for us to come to that place to recognize that that there is only 1 thing that will satisfy us, we need to develop certain things. We need to5:43 cultivate that taste. Listen to me carefully. Look at what John Calvin said. He says, in pursuit of lesser portions, our tastes have dulled. Look at that.5:55 We are so easily satisfied. Our taste buds are so weak, so compromised. We have become numb to our real hungers, filling them with lesser fare, but when we return to the source,6:07 we taste anew. See, we are we are trying to satisfy ourselves with junk food when god is throwing us a Michelin star buffet, but yet we're craving6:19 for junk food. That's what he's saying. In other words, we will we are searching for something in the natural when god is calling us to the supernatural to be satisfied with him. There6:31 is a search within and the search is for god. Alexander McLaren said this. He says, we have the hunger for eternity in our souls, the thought of eternity in our hearts,6:42 the destination for eternity return on the inmost being, and the need to ally ourselves with eternity. This is what Ecclesiastes chapter 3 also said. When when6:54 Solomon wrote, he says there's eternity in the hearts of men. In other words, we are already wired towards eternity to connect to the eternal being, to connect to our God. There is a search and only he7:06 alone can satisfy, but yet we don't pursue him. You know why? Because that requires a cultivated taste. That's why in this house we say, we don't7:18 try to be disciples, we train ourselves to be disciples. We have to train ourselves to seek God, to go in his presence, and to7:30 search for him. Isn't that what we read in couple of, passages ago, couple of lessons ago in Psalm 73, the experience of Aesop, the worship leader of7:42 Israel. He pents in his journal. He says, I saw the prosperity of the wicked, and I was envious of the arrogant. And as a result, there was a churning within in his heart. And when he had7:53 this churning within, what did he do? He was hopeless. He wanted to give up. But yet, the Bible says, when he entered into the presence of god, everything shifted. See, I want8:05 you to listen to me. Everything will shift when you come into the presence of god. That's why, recognize this, your search is not for a better house or a better life partner or a better pay grade or better home. Your8:17 search is actually for god. If you're not satisfied with him, you will not be satisfied with anything else. He alone truly satisfies. That is why as a Christian, we gotta come to8:29 that place to recognize what is my search? My search is truly for God. That's why God invites us. Look at this in Psalm 46 and verse 10. He says, be still8:41 and know that I'm God. Hallelujah. He invites us to be still. You know what that means to be still? It means stop striving.8:53 Stop looking around. Stop getting distracted by peripheral things, trivialities. Stop looking at things from the earthly perspective. Come to my presence and be still9:05 and know that I am god. Hallelujah. What a invitation. I tell you why we don't do that. We don't do that because it is a cultivated taste.9:17 You know, you come home tired from work. Many of you, you come home tired from work. What do you do? You eat your dinner. You you take a shower, and then you go and sit before a TV and vegetate for the9:28 next 3 hours, 4 hours. Maybe you go through Korean drama after Korean drama on Netflix. Listen to me carefully. That's what we do. Why? Because our heart gravitates towards9:41 seeking relief. We want a reprieve from a busy life. We want something to vegetate. We need we are seeking relief when God is inviting us to his presence to seek rest.9:54 Netflix can provide you relief. A holiday can provide you relief, but being in the presence of God, reading his scriptures and praying and pouring out your soul and processing the events of the the the events that have10:04 happened in that day and processing it before God and reflecting upon it and asking his help and gaining wisdom, these things will cause you to be rested. Hallelujah. There's a big difference between rest and10:16 relief, but it's a cultivated taste. That's why God is saying to us here, if you truly want to seek rest, be still and know that I'm10:28 God. So the opposite of being still is to be striving. So stop striving. Stop striving about buying that house. Stop striving about, oh, the market is this is the right time. I'm I'm not10:40 ready and blah blah blah, all that stuff. Just calm down. Oh, know him. He is able to satisfy you. Know him. He's able to direct you. See, when you are still, you can hear10:52 God and that is the most important thing a believer needs. When you are still, you can hear the voice of God clearly. That's why if I can help you with11:04 1 thing tonight, I want you to catch this with me. Cultivate a listening time. This is why we say spiritual disciplines are important. Carve out time to have silence and11:15 solitude before God. Where you come and you are still in the presence of God, you are seeking him through the pages of scripture. You're reading it. You're reflecting it. You're recording what he's saying, and you're11:26 responding to him in prayer. The more you do it, you cultivate a listening point. And the more you hear him and the more you obey him, I tell you what, he will lead you towards satisfaction.11:38 Hallelujah. I can share with you stories after stories of how God has been so good to me in my life. But can I humbly say this, come back to him and cultivate that11:50 taste of being in his presence? Story was told of a grandma that passed away and she had 1 grandson and she left everything she had to the grandson. So the grandma is very12:02 wealthy. So Jake, the grandson, was hoping that the grandma would have left him a lot of dollars, millions of dollars. But on the day arrived, all Jake got from the grandma12:14 was a dirty old used Bible. And Jake was so frustrated that he threw the Bible and never looked at it. 5 months have passed and suddenly his12:26 house was on fire. The firefighters put the fire out and then they salvaged few things and Jake Jake was able to go in and have a look and suddenly he saw the bible in the corner all12:38 now fully wet and soiled and half burnt. He took at it he took and have a looked look at it and he was flipping through it and suddenly something caught his eyes. In the12:49 margins, the the grandmother has written. If you're reading this, Jake, that means you are reading your Bible. I have left clues for you to discover 3000000 dollars that13:01 I've left for you. But you only have 3 you only have 6 months. Otherwise, after that, everything will go to charity. And I've left the clues all over the Bible, so read the Bible.13:13 Now Jake can't read the Bible. He can't access that treasure. Why? Because it's all gone. It's burnt. Listen to me carefully. God is inviting us to really treasure him and come13:25 in his presence and to seek him. And as we are seeking him, we will receive the instructions to find the satisfaction, significance, and security in him, but it's a cultivated13:37 taste. The reason why we are not responding to the call of God like that is because deep down, the second movement, there is a desperate struggle. What13:49 is a desperate struggle? The desperate struggle is we want it all. We want everything. See, we are so self centered in our lives that god wants to move us from14:01 being self centered to becoming god centered. So in this process, there is going to be a struggle and the struggle is between 2 wills. And the struggle is to renounce self will14:13 and to embrace God's will. This is a constant struggle a believer will go through. See, I already established to you spiritual maturity is to will the will of the father. To come to that place to say,14:24 father, have your way in my midst. Have let me walk in your ways. Let me do your will. Have your way. Let me yield myself willingly. That is spiritual maturity. But how many of you know we struggle to14:36 surrender? Why? Why do we struggle to embrace the will of God? You know why? Because we like to be in control. We feel that if we give control to14:48 God, if we yield ourselves to do the will of God, then God will call us to do things that we don't want to do. Marry the person we don't wanna marry, move into the country we don't wanna move, or do the work that we14:59 don't wanna do. Or what if he asked me to empty all my bank account and give it to him? I don't wanna do all this. I don't wanna lose control of my life. So therefore, the we we have this illusion of control. We wanna15:11 just manage what we got. So we are self centered. We don't yield ourselves to god. But can I humbly say this? Spiritual maturities to be able to come to that place to say, Lord, I recognize15:23 that you are pinpointing this particular area in my life, and I wanna yield myself to you. To will the will of the father in this area of my life.15:35 Hallelujah. Now over the years, we have studied quite a bit about God's will, isn't it? I did an entire series. It's actually available on YouTube as a playlist, knowing god's will. And15:47 we talk about how knowing god's will is totally sovereign, gloriously redemptive, sometimes puzzling, but always perfect. I explained this there. Why is it totally15:59 sovereign? Gloriously redemptive, sometimes puzzling. The will of God is sometimes puzzling, but always perfect. Now when it comes to doing the will of the father, doing the will of God, there is a movement16:11 there. Firstly, it is to perceive God's will. Secondly, it is to pursue God's will. Thirdly, it is to prefer God's will. In other words, God brings us through these movements. Firstly, is to understand the will of16:23 God. See, many times we don't do the will of God because we don't understand it. We don't understand that what God is asking us to give up or give in is so that he can bless us with more. Like CS16:35 Lewis will say that you're playing with dirty dirty, pebbles, and god wants to give you marbles, but you don't want to play with it. You don't wanna exchange16:47 your dirty dirty pebbles for his marbles. You don't want to exchange because you don't know what he has. You don't understand everything. So understanding the will of God is important. Perceive. Pursue meaning that you16:58 have to do it. Just because you know the will of God doesn't mean that you will do the will of God. There is a big distinction between knowing God's will and doing God's will. Isn't17:09 it? And the third thing is that we gotta prefer the will of God. What is preferring the will of God? We will come to that place like Jesus. The more and more we are Christ like, the more and more we will come before God17:20 and say, Lord, not my will, but your will. Help me to prefer your will. You know, in my own personal journey, I recognized that that the Lord had brought me to17:32 a place to to prefer his will in a lot of areas. I shared with you earlier when he brought me into this country, I used to struggle. Why did you bring me out of India to this place? Why did you put me in this particular17:43 church? Why did you give me this particular people group that you need to call me to pastor? I used to have all these questions within my soul and I was wrestling, but God gave me that grace to come and lay it down17:55 before him. And as a result of that, he has caused me to delight in his will. See, it's 1 thing to do the will of God, another thing to truly delight in the will of18:06 God. You come to the place where you prefer, lord, I will do your will because I know your will is good for me. Hallelujah. See, John Calvin said this, the human heart has18:18 so many crannies where vanity hides, so many holes where falsehood lurks, is so decked out with deceiving hypocrisy that is often dupes itself. Many18:30 times, we we want to have God, but we don't want to surrender to him. And that is the key, the struggle that goes within us. That's why there is a hypocrisy18:42 in our lives. But I want you to recognize, if you want to know the will and do the will, you need to be, seeking after you need to come before God and to seek him, cultivate that taste. At the same18:54 time, you need to know that there is a 2 struggles within you. There's a struggle between your self will and God's will that you need to come and yield aright. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 15 and 1719:06 says this, be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. See, we already established that this is the last19:18 days, the last leg of the last days. So don't miss the opportunity. Don't live like fools. Live like a wise man. Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the will of god is and do19:29 it. You and I, we need to live with wisdom, and the wisdom is he's coming again soon, so let's get busy doing the will of the father. Hallelujah.19:42 Why is there a difference between knowing God's will and doing God's will? The difference is because there's 2 conflicting natures within us. Isn't it? Romans chapter 7 and verses 18 and verses19:54 19 say this, for I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh, for I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. Paul says, I want to do the right thing, but I20:06 can't do the right thing. Why? Because there is an evil that is also wanting to do evil within me. So look at that. The sin I don't want to do, I end up doing. The good I want to do, I don't end up doing.20:18 The sin I don't want to do, I end up doing. The good I want to do, I don't end up doing. In other words, that's a constant struggle. It's because you and I have these 2 natures. So that's why you gotta recognize20:30 that in every situation, you gotta come before God and say, Lord, I feel that churning within. I feel that restlessness just like Aesop did. But I recognize that as you're pinpointing some areas of my life where20:42 you are calling me to surrender. You're calling me to give in. You're calling me to let the will of God have rule and reign over my life. Help me, Lord. Hallelujah. So the20:54 moment you recognize that, it move on to the third 1, the absolute surrender. Hallelujah. So it is the deep search, the desperate struggle, and the absolute21:06 surrender. What is the absolute surrender? It is yielding it all. Hallelujah. It is yielding it all. And the 2 things that I want you to highlight is there is a struggle to surrender and the power to21:18 surrender. See, you and I, we recognize that what God is calling us to do as we spiritually mature is to surrender and to say, father, not my will, but your will be done. You're inviting me to lead a21:30 small group. Let me let your will be done. I want to respond to it. Father, you're asking me to open my home and invite pre believers so that they can hear the gospel. Lord, let me21:42 respond. Not my will, but your will be done. Lord, you're asking me to give towards the cause of the kingdom. Let me do that. Lord, you're asking me to stay where I am in my workplace. Let me do that. There is a there is21:53 a struggle to surrender, but there is also a power to surrender. I want you to recognize this. See, in life, you and I, we surrender to god. I'm not saying if22:05 you're a Christian, you there are areas of your life you're totally surrendered. No. There are some areas we do surrender. Maybe in the area of your relationship, you're more surrendered. But in the area of your finance,22:16 you're not. Maybe in the area of how you use your spare time, you're not surrendered. Maybe your the how, there are some areas of your life where you're not surrendered. See, many times22:28 we have this fallacy, I'm surrendered. Because we are surrendered, we have given some token surrenders. But what I'm calling for and what the bible calls for is an absolute surrender.22:40 1 of the core things that you and I, we need to recognize is this. The greatest paradox of Christianity is wanting God but not surrendering to him. We want him, but there are areas of our22:52 lives we just keep holding on to. That's why there is such a, there is no integration in our lives. There's such a departmentalization in our lives, compartmentalization in our lives. Some aspects are given to the23:04 lord, but other aspects we haven't. And that's why we are so fragmented. But if we come back to that place where we say, lord, my whole life, all of my life, every aspect of23:16 my life, whole of my life, I give to you. The whole of my life for the whole of my life. In other words, all of my life for the rest of my life, I yield to you. That is a life of23:27 integration. That's a life of discipleship. That's a life of absolute surrender. Now that's what Jesus wants, isn't it? I want you to listen to me. Andrew Murray said this. He wrote a beautiful book23:39 called, Absolute Surrender. If you ever have a chance, read that. But I want to give you this quote. Many believers think that when they receive Jesus, he saves them and then helps them in times of trouble.23:52 Then they all, but deny him as their master. They think they have a right to have their own will and their own way in a thousand different things. They are their own masters and would never24:03 dream of saying, Jesus, I forsake all to follow you. What a beautiful picture. If you are a disciple of Christ, you got to recognize that you are no longer your24:15 own. You are now bought with a price. Christ owns you. You are like a bond servant. You know the difference between a slave and a bond slave?24:28 A slave is someone who has no freedom. He has been bought and he he has to he has a master who dictates everything. But you know what? Who's a bond slave? A bond slave is somebody who has laid24:40 down his life. He's free, but he's laid down his life to serve his master willingly. He yields himself. He says, I want to be your slave. I want to be your servant. I wanna serve24:52 you. Even though I have freedom to choose otherwise, I want to serve you and they are the bondservants. You and I, we are like that. Because we recognize our lives don't belong to us. We belong to the master. He died for25:04 us. He rescued us. He delivered us. He saved us. He is our rightful owner and therefore, we wanna please him. We wanna do his will and that is why we come and surrender ourselves25:16 to him. And what kind of surrender does he expect? He expects an absolute surrender. Look with me in Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5 and verse 6. It's a familiar25:28 text. Let's read it together. Trust in the lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.25:40 I want to highlight the 2 things that you find as the key words in this verses. Many times I ask people to do this, they will always choose trust and acknowledge.25:51 Because it says trust in the lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. So the trust and acknowledge is the keywords. But26:02 can I humbly say this? There's a small word that is repeated twice. That's the keyword in this passage. What's the small word? It's the word called all. Trust26:14 in the lord with all of your heart. In all of your ways acknowledge him. Not just in some ways, not just in some areas of your life where you trust26:26 him, but trust him with all of your heart and acknowledge him in all of your ways. Now that is the struggle that we have many times because we fail to26:38 understand the plan of God is for you and me to be blessed. Blessed with his presence, blessed with his power, blessed with his promise, blessed and clothed with his favor.26:50 And it comes to us when we willingly yield ourselves and trust him with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding and acknowledge him in all our ways so that he can make our27:02 path straight. See today, spiritual maturity is not about how committed you are to God, but spiritual maturity is about how surrendered you are to27:13 God. That's the key. It is not about how committed you are. You could be committed in a few things for a token commitment, but god is calling you to an absolute surrender, a place where you say, god,27:25 not my will, but your will. That is the place of spiritual maturity, to will the will of the father. In closing, let me say this. Christian life is a series27:38 of dedications. Christian life is a series of surrenders. It is not just 1 time you surrender. You keep surrendering your life. You keep laying down your life at the altar over27:50 and over and over again. The areas where you feel that churning within, those areas God is placing his finger and he says, lay down that for me. That's the area I want you to surrender. That's the28:02 place stop striving and come and be still so that I can deal with it. See, these are things that God is calling us to surrender. Now when I look look back in my own life, in my twenties, I28:14 surrendered different things. See, I was telling my boys 1 day. I was a teenager, 14 years old. When I said, Lord, I'm not gonna look for relationship. You will tell me 1 day who I will marry and I'll seek that28:26 person. And I prayed that the Lord will open my eyes 1 day. That's why in my in my life, by the grace of god, I waited for that season. In that season, god said, this is the woman. And I fell in love with that girl.28:38 And from that day, we have been together. Listen to me carefully. In my twenties, I had to surrender other areas. I had to surrender my, the capacity to28:49 earn, the potential to work in a marketplace, to come and work be full time in in the in the in the church environment. You know, all these things, you you surrender different aspects.29:01 Now in my forties, I surrender different things. Surrender the opportunities to to be a pastor of a large church or to stand on bigger platforms or to do this and do that for the for the kingdom of god. You29:13 know, you surrender even those things. You come before god and you say, lord, it's not good things you're calling me to do. You're calling me to do god things. You're calling me to do the things that you have appointed29:25 for me to do, and I need to recognize those divine appointments. I need to recognize the divine opportunities, and I wanna do it. That requires surrender. And can I give you a clue? The29:37 moment you are surrendered like that, you know what happens? You become like a child that is so satisfied in the mother's arm. Have you ever seen a child that is well fed? That means it29:49 has drunk enough milk from the mother that is so peaceful, so blissful. It is just resting and it's napping and it's sleeping very well. What is that? That's like a child that is so30:01 satisfied. I tell you what, you and I, we will be like that when we have truly come before god and yielded and surrendered before him. That is my desire for you. That is my desire30:13 for you. In closing, let me read Eugene Peterson. This is what he says. Christian discipleship is a decision to walk in his ways and then finding that the way integrates all our interests,30:24 passions, and gifts, our human needs, and eternal aspirations. It is the way of life we were created for. Deep search, desperate struggle, absolute surrender.30:36 Let's look to the lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for this wonderful privilege to study your word. Lord, continue to speak to our hearts even as we go through the reflection questions.30:48 Lord, help us to identify areas of our lives where you are placing your finger, where there is churning on the inside, where there is restlessness, where there is striving. Lord, help31:00 us to recognize and help us to develop a cultivated taste. Help us to be trained for discipleship, to come into your presence and to be still and to know that you're God. And give us grace, mighty God, to31:12 overcome our self will that we will surrender to god and let your will be our will, that we will will the will of the father. And in this, I pray that we will grow in our31:23 absolute surrender to the lord. And as a result, we'll grow in our spiritual maturity. We thank you. We praise you. I pray your blessing upon your people in Jesus' name. And the people of God said,31:35 amen and amen. We love you. God bless you. Have a blessed time together as a group.In this video 0:00 The Path to Spiritual Maturity
Paul Jeyachandran
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