Children No More | Ephesians 4:13-14

Well, thank you so much for joining us this morning as we continue our preaching series through the book of Ephesians And so we've titled this ongoing series in Christ because ultimately everything is pointing back to King Jesus we looked at the opening three chapters as Paul is developing these deep theological truths how

Christ The the second person of the Trinity God the Father and the

Holy Spirit This is a work of the triune God in salvation and all things working out all things ultimately after the counsel of his will and we see that all history is unfolding in this great drama of Redemption and so for those of us that have seen and tasted that the

Lord is good This is a work of the Holy Spirit at work in us And so Paul has been pointing us back to these wonderful truths and in chapter 4 we get to see the application

Start pouring out and saying these are the reasons why we stand unified together as a church body

So I'd like to invite you to turn with me and your copy of God's Word to Ephesians Chapter 4 we're gonna pick back up on this series of being in Christ and how we are to strive together in great unity

So look with me starting in verse 1 so we can develop the context together Paul says

I therefore a prisoner of the Lord urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been

Called with all humility and gentleness with patience bearing with one another in love

Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace There is one body and one spirit just as you were you were called to one

Hope that belongs to your call one Lord one faith one Baptism one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift therefore it says when he ascended on high he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men in Saying he ascended.

What does it mean? But that he also descended into the lower regions the earth He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fulfill all things and he gave the

Apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and teachers to equip the Saints for the good for the work of ministry

For the building up the body of Christ until we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the

Son of God to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ So that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by human cunning by craftiness and deceitful schemes

Rather speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ From whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint

With which it is equipped when each part is working properly makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love

Let's pray this morning Heavenly Father we thank you so much for this time to worship together

With the Saints God to sing praises to your holy name father I pray that you bless our time as we delve deep into your word that you would send your spirit to illuminate our hearts and our

Minds God, I pray that this morning that we would be equipped to stand firm in your truth against all the schemes of the

Enemy that hurls attacks against us. God. I pray to that you would help us to see our need to grow in Spiritual maturity

Lord, we love you and pray all these things in your name Jesus. Amen So look with me at verse 14

This will be our primary passage this morning where Paul says so that we may no longer

Be children and that's when I pause there because one might say is it being childlike sometimes a good thing

Didn't Jesus say truly I say to you unless you turn and become like children You will never enter the kingdom of heaven

Well context is King right because Jesus in the gospel accounts He is telling us that we must humble ourselves be like a little child in a lowly position

Because children they have no achievements no Accomplishments to offer they have no resources a child is helpless

They are completely dependent on someone else. And so Jesus in the gospels is saying this is a beautiful picture of Saving faith we are to look to Jesus to be dependent on him and him alone and his finished work

Okay, so that's a context of being childlike is a good thing But the Apostle Paul is telling us something much different.

He's telling Christians that we are to grow into Maturity and so he gives the negative command here in verse 14 so that we may no longer be

Children look with me in verse 13 where he gives the positive command We are to strive for the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the

Son of God to mature manhood Okay, so when we think about growing and being mature

Biologically right when we when we when we take in food when we sleep we get good rest we

Biologically and naturally grow right we do it in our sleep, but spiritually it's something much different this is something that is to be intentionally sought after this must be something that is done together with the body of the

Saints Okay, so I want us to be thinking about what does spiritual maturity look like this begins when a person is born again

They are a spiritual babe in Christ And so the the reality is that someone when that's truly born again and a babe in Christ They could potentially go decades the rest of their life and still be spiritually immature

This is not something that just organically happens on its own Now it is the

Holy Spirit in us and through us but from our perspective. We must intentionally engage with the

Word of God First Peter chapter 2 says as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the

Word that by it you may grow up into Salvation if indeed you have tasted that the

Lord is good This is such a good illustration talking about someone who's new to the faith.

They are like a spiritual infant And so when we think about physical babies, right?

They only know how to do just a couple things. They know how to cry They know how to fill up a diaper

I've learned that in recent times and they long for their mother's milk.

This is how they grow and spiritual babes in Christ long for the milk of the Word of God because they've

Tasted of the goodness of God and his promises and they desire to grow and walk in relationship with him

It is the Word of God that grows us into salvation in this context. It means our

Sanctification right if we want to think about this regeneration is the rebirth Sanctification is the ongoing growth

Jesus said in John 17 17 Father sanctified them in the truth. Your word is truth.

The Word of God is our spiritual food The Apostle Paul said to the Ephesian elders now

I commend you to God and to the word of his grace Which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctifying and so here in Ephesians Look with me back at verse 13 because Paul is telling the

Ephesians to grow and to be mature until we attain The the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the

Son of God to mature manhood Right. We see this principle of him calling us to spiritual maturity and that is the thing to mature manhood

Being contrasted with no longer being little children in verse 14

So I want us to ask the question. How does a Christian mature spiritually right this unity?

Paul is bringing into focus on this phrase by the knowledge of the Son of God That is what brings us to mature adulthood in the faith

And so I want to give us three bullet points to kind of hang our hats on number one We we mature spiritually by gaining knowledge

Okay, because this is centering in around this phrase the knowledge of the Son of God Pastor Nathan pointed out that this word knowledge is

Epigenosis, this has a deep meaning of knowledge that is correct and accurate. It is full of discernment

And so it's to take in theological information and as we're gonna see it's a whole lot more than that as well

But it is not less than that. This goes back to taking in the Word of God which renews our heart and our mind

This is our spiritual food that grows us And so I'd like to invite you to turn with me briefly to 1st

John chapter 2 In 1st John chapter 2, I believe the Apostle John shows us progressive stages of spiritual maturity and we see stages of children young men and fathers and they're growing in their knowledge and so starting in verse 12

John says I'm writing to you little children because your sins are forgiven for his namesake

I'm writing to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one

I write to you children because you know the father I write to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning

I write to you young men Because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one

And so look back with me at verse 12 notice the little children, right? These are babes in Christ They are born again, and they know one thing

They know that their sins are forgiven for his namesake. You may be a baby in Christ, but you are justified

You are righteous in the sight of God because of your faith in King Jesus Perhaps someone who is a new

Christian all they know is I love Jesus. He is my Savior I want to follow him and I want to be around other

Christians and what a wonderful starting point, right? And by God's grace, they will continue to grow in spiritual maturity

Look with me at the second sentence in verse 14. We see spiritual development here

He says I write to you young men Because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one

So we see a slight change here. We're no longer talking about children, but young men and they are strong how?

Well, we see that it's the Word of God abiding in them. They have theological information

They understand sound doctrine guarding their heart from the enemy They know the truth that we have already won because we are in Christ And we see the example of Jesus when he contended with Satan it is written

It is written and not only did the Jesus know the scriptural He knew the the meaning of scripture because guess what the enemy knows scripture, too

So it's not just enough to know the word but to know its meaning and so we see this with young men in the faith

They still have a lot more maturing to do But they understand the value of abiding in the

Word of God hiding God's Word in your heart So you may not sin against God. And so that's one of the aims here at Twelve Five Church We we believe in the value of studying to show yourself approved being equipped with systematic theology

And so on Wednesday nights our adults are going through everyone's a theologian written by R .C.

Sproul This is an introduction to systematic theology, and this is because Twelve Five We want it to we want our church to be one of gospel culture.

Yes, we love the fellowship We want to flourish in our in our walk with King Jesus and with one another but we must understand deep

Theological truths about Jesus why because they're spiritual warfare as we're gonna see there are false teachers trying to deceive us at every

Point and turn and so we must be intentional like John says here young men who are strong in the faith

And so someone may be tempted to say that's a babe in Christ. Well, don't give me theology Give me

Jesus and I love what Pastor Nathan said I believe is last week He he says which Jesus and they say oh

Well, Jesus is the Son of God who died for my sin right the babe in Christ and as Pastor Nathan said that's a great

Theological answer and so the point is you cannot escape being a theologian

Everyone has an opinion about who God is and who we are in this world The question is are you a good theologian or are you a bad one?

Okay, and so we don't want to say that theology and sound doctrine isn't necessary This is what renews our heart and our mind and equips us for spiritual warfare

And so I believe another Temptation that Immature Christians babes in Christ are tempted to say well does that mean

I have to learn all the the theological terminology all the fancy Christian ease

Well, if we are going to grow in the knowledge of the Son of God, then the answer is yes

Remember little children they in the faith they are spiritually immature

But they know one thing is that their sins are forgiven and that is a beautiful truth

And so I have been tasked with the responsibility of leading Bible study with the youth here at 12 5

And it is such a wonderful time. They understand that this isn't the Jeremiah show But this is the time to open up God's Word and we are in all we give reverence

We give respect to God and his truth. And so we talk about these terms ask the youth of 12 5 we talk about propitiation the

Trinity the incarnation penal substitutionary atonement and Justification by faith alone.

Why because doctrine matters Theology matters studying and understanding the whole counsel of God matters in the life of a

Christian We must grow into spiritual maturity. And so this first major point is gaining theological knowledge insights from Scripture learning more about our gracious God and how we can glorify

Him with our lives. Amen And so as we learn more of these theological truths, we will be victorious in spiritual warfare right once again

The young person who is matured spiritually is abiding in the Word of God and is strong and John says you have overcome

The evil one and so yes, there's much more maturing that needs to take place.

Look with me at verse 13 in 1st John chapter 2 John says I am writing to you fathers because you know him who is from the beginning

Okay, this is a father. This is someone that is more mature and no longer a young man

I mean has a deep knowledge of the eternal God the principle of spiritual maturity is to know

God in his fullness This deep knowledge of God would include having a deep loving relationship

With the triune God and so this brings us to our second major point. Remember point major point number one was gaining knowledge number two is

Relational knowledge and so if you would turn back with me to Ephesians chapter 4 look with me at verse 13

We're asking the question. How does a Christian mature spiritually like we've pointed out gaining knowledge learning sound doctrine and theology

Abiding in the Word of God like these young men in 1st John 2, but this also must be relational knowledge

God forbid that it just reached our heads and his head knowledge and intellectual facts, but it never goes to the heart

Okay, we are called to know the Son of God both that that involves theological information

But this is a means of how we have deep relationship with him

Verse 13 in the context says that this unity is based on the knowledge of the

Son of God to mature Manhood and so notice the word knowledge does not stand alone

Paul specifically says that the knowledge of the Son of God And so like we're pointing out this knowledge of the

Son of God means that you must believe the right Jesus You must understand theologically that the

Son of God is face to face Has a face -to -face relationship with God the Father and there was no beginning point.

This was from Eternity past and this relationship has been eternal This is the essence of love and is in perfect harmonious relationship between father son and spirit

Yes, we must understand this theologically, but this knowledge of the Son of God includes knowing him relationally from our perspective

Jesus said in John 17 3 and this is eternal life that they may know the only true

God in Jesus Christ Whom you have sent and so eternal life knowing

God does not Start after we pass from this life to the next this starts here and now the moment that you put your faith in Jesus you can know him

Relationally how well he speaks to us through his living and breathing Word and we speak back to him in prayer and I can honestly say when my view of scripture changed and I understood the

Bible as the living voice of God I Had to know more. I no longer viewed scripture as ink on a page within a cold dead ancient book

No, no. No, these are the words of God They are spirit and life and my desire is to meditate on his word day and night

I need more I've tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious So I want to know

God's Word. I want to obey what my Lord has commanded. I want to live my life to his glory

And I pray that that is your heart's desire as well. And so this is how we grow into spiritual maturity number one we gain knowledge theological information from God's truth number two relational knowledge that knowledge that is impressed in our heart means that we have a loving relationship a

Two -way street right God speaks to us really and truly through his word and we speak back to him in prayer and number three this knowledge is

Corporate corporate knowledge our relationship with God is to be shared with the

Saints And so that's the whole context of Ephesians This is talking about the church that's being built upon the

Apostles the prophets and Jesus being the cornerstone but verse 13 we see the plurality right until we

Attain unity of the faith verse 14 so that we may no longer be children verse 15

We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ What is vital to our spiritual maturity is living our

Christian faith with other saints in the church body Right Christ is gracious.

He has given us the gifts of the Apostles teachings Prophets evangelists and the pastors to teach and equip the

Saints for the work of ministry And so oftentimes the way that we learn information gain knowledge is by seeing others example

Right and that true here at twelve five We watch the life of pastor Nathan how he loves his family and loves the people of God, right?

That's contagious. It rubs off on us This is what Paul told Timothy set the believers an example in speech in conduct in love in faith in purity practice these things and immerse yourself in them so that all may see your progress and keep a close watch on yourselves on the

Teaching persist in this for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers

And so we are human beings. We are relational We are called to walk together with one another as we walk one -on -one with Jesus And so we strive verse 13 again to attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the

Son of God To mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ And so I want us to take these principles of maturing spiritually back with us to verse 14

Which Paul once again says so that we may no longer be children

But Paul it seems like it would be a lot easier just to remain a child in the faith where I can take time

Church hopping with no real covenant commitment to a body of believers No real depth of study in the truth that would challenge me and sharpen me with other believers well there's a problem with this mentality because verse 14

Paul warns us of the dangers of not maturing in the faith a baby

Christian who's not in a healthy fellowship with other Christians a baby Christian who is not striving towards the knowledge of the

Son of God will be absolutely crushed by the attacks of the enemy Look with me at verse 14 again so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of Doctrine by human cunning by craftiness in deceitful schemes

And so it's interesting that Paul uses the analogy of an inexperienced Sailor who's on a boat or a ship but is out at sea and is getting tossed around in every direction

By the waves and the wind this inexperienced sailor is ignorant He is defenseless gullible and is in danger of being shipwrecked very very soon

And so this is the picture of the the the baby Christian is is susceptible to being led astray by false

Teachers right? He says tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of Doctrine and so doctrine is not a bad word doctrine simply means teaching to be able to receive instruction we learn from particular doctrines that will inform us how we

Should live and how we interact with one another and so for Christians our doctrine is the

Word of God That is the foundation this instructs us in the truth and how we are to glorify

God with our lives Back in verse 11. We read that this is the heart of the shepherds.

These are pastors of the church They are firstly teachers They are feeding the flock of God with truth and they are to guard the people of God from false teaching

Titus 1 9 says he a pastor must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give

Instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

Oh goodness We're actually going to rebuke those that contradict contradict God's Word. Yes, there's an apologetics and nature involved with being a pastor

Apologetics means to give a defense and guess what? This is meant to be for all Christians, right?

There are gonna be times where we have to guard the hope that lies within us and then Jude Verse 3 tells us that we are going to contend for the faith, right?

But we do so in love Okay, and so what's very imperative for the the

Christian? Flourishing in their spiritual walk is being in a healthy church where the leaders are on guard

They are shepherds that not only care for but guard them from those that are trying to creep in ravenous wolves

Okay, and so that's what Jesus warned us about in the Sermon on the Mount He says that there will be many that come to you in sheep's clothing

But are inwardly ravenous wolves scripture goes on to say these fierce wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and among Your own selves will rise men speaking twisted things to draw away disciples after them

If a church does not stand firm on truth If the leaders do not boldly proclaim the whole counsel of God and guard it with care

Then it is only a matter of time to tell those baby Christians will be absolutely defenseless to the destructive attacks of the enemy

So in verse 14, I believe Paul gives us these three methods that the enemy attempts to use to shipwreck

Young believers and so that is number one by human cunning Number two by craftiness and number three in deceitful schemes

And so number one by human cunning this could also be translated the trickery of men

And actually I really like how the King James renders the slight of men, right?

It's almost like slight of hand a slight of hand magic trick And so the term cunning derives its meaning from the

Greek word Kubas, right where we get the word cube And so this means rolling of the dice playing dice and so these men with the slight of hand

They oftentimes had loaded dice And so they would they would perceive themselves or before others as professional gamblers

But they were gonna pull a fast one, right? They were going to use slight of hand and they and so dice dice players kubos

This became always known as dishonest trickery And so Paul is describing false teachers as those who come with great plausibility to the young Christian They seem to be experts like professional dice players, but really they know how to manipulate.

They are quick They are subtle and while you're not watching carefully, they will deceive you and mislead you

They will distort the truth and it will be hard to detect and please hear me the greatest lie

Contains the most amount of truth in it Okay, that's what false teachers are aiming to do and many of these false teachers

They do so fully aware what they're doing right fueled by their own lust and their own greed

But there are also many false teachers that will deceive you with deception that they themselves believe to be true

That's because this trickery is of a supernatural origin back in Ephesians chapter 2 we read that the course of this world is following the prince of the power of the air the spirit who is now at work in the sons of disobedience and So this human cunning number one originates from the kingdom of darkness and Maligns and manipulates the truth.

Okay, so we have to be on guard we have to be watchful And so number two we read by craftiness

This is so similar to the word cunning carrying the idea of clever Manipulation of error made to look like truth

This has been Satan's pattern of deception all the way since the beginning in 2nd

Corinthians chapter 11 the Apostle said to the believers at Corinth But I'm afraid that as the serpent deceived

Eve by his cunning or and the word here is craftiness Your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ for if someone comes and proclaims another

Jesus than the one we proclaimed or if you received a different spirit from the one you've Received or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted you put up with it readily enough

You can almost hear Paul's heartache towards the the the believers at Corinth how they are so immature

They are allowing Satan's craftiness to come in their midst and wreak havoc

Paul goes on to say in verse 13 in that epistle He says for such men are false apostles deceitful workmen disguising themselves as apostles of Christ in No wonder even

Satan disguises himself as an angel of light So it is no surprise if his servants also disguised themselves as servants of righteousness

And so what we have to understand is Satan isn't just going to say hey

I'm an evil demon looking creature with horns and a pitchfork, right? He's so much more crafty and deceitful than that The craftiness of Satan he works through false teachers that have an appearance of godliness

That appeals to the desires of our flesh the desires of our eyes and the pride of life

Nothing is new under the Sun These are the same tactics that he did with Eve in the garden and with Adam there present as well

And so Satan continues to use these methods today to assault new believers

And like I said number one by human cunning two by craftiness and three in deceitful schemes

So deceitful schemes could be rendered deceitful plotting or lying in wait to deceive

And so the imagery is like a predator waiting to trap its prey This is a careful method of planning and patiently waiting to pounce at the right moment

This is exactly what the Apostle Peter used to describe Satan He says to Christians be sober minded and watchful for your adversary

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour whomever he can

And so Paul uses the word Schemes here to lie in wait and this word is only used one other time in all of the

New Testament And it shows up again in Ephesians chapter 6 So if you would please turn with me there to Ephesians chapter 6 starting in verse 10

Apostle Paul says finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might

Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand Against the schemes of the devil there it is right the schemes of the devil and just as we pointed out earlier

We must be on high alert for false teachers because their deception is of a supernatural

Origin the source of their craftiness comes from the prince of darkness So Paul continues this point in verse 12

He says for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities

Against the cosmic powers over this present darkness against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places

The battle for truth is a Spiritual battle and Satan is much more crafty and cunning than we could ever imagine and guess what?

He does not fight fair We do not stand a chance. Listen when we stand in the power of our own might

Right Paul began by saying finally be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might

Well, Jeremiah, how do I do that? How am I to stand firm in the strength of the Lord's might? How can

I be mature from being a child in the faith? We must prepare for war

Right. This is a spiritual warfare. This is something that we must be cognizant every day

Waking up putting on the whole body armor of God the battle for truth is a

Spiritual battle look with me at verse 13 Paul says therefore Take up the whole body armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day having done all to stand firm stand therefore having fastened on the belt of truth and having put on the breastplate of Righteousness and as for your shoes for your feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel peace in all circumstances take up the shield of faith which would you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the

Spirit Which is the Word of God praying in all times in the Spirit and in all prayer and supplication

To that end keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the

Saints Why do you hear the urgency and Paul's voice? It's because we must make war

Little children don't do that. They can't they don't know too That's why we are called to mature in the faith and put on the body armor of God All of this is imagery for abiding in the

Word of God knowing him Relationally taking in these theological truths that will guard your mind and in your heart

You catch the breastplate of righteousness there right when you are resting in Jesus and his righteousness that covers your heart

Right when you are trusting in Jesus taking up that shield of faith Satan can't touch that right because you're trusting in the promises of the

God who cannot lie And when you put on the now check this out when you're not just a lone soldier, but you have an army

What can Satan do right and that is the church and so we must prepare for war and so in closing as Paul tells us that we must no longer be children

He is exhorting us to spiritual maturity, and I know that Paul must be saying this from a place of love

He has the heart of a pastor He cares for the people of God and he knows that if a person is truly a child of the faith

Then nothing that Satan can do Whatever changed that status and you saw praise

God right and I want us to understand Yes, if you are truly a child in Christ If you are born again, nothing in all of creation can separate you from the love of King Jesus But if we remain spiritually immature

Then we are susceptible to his attacks when we don't put on the body armor of God and we can be ineffective

For the kingdom that is the absolute best that the enemy can do for an immature believer is to make them stay immature

And so as I was thinking about Satan's deceptive attacks on truth being like waves in the wind

It made me think about the time the disciples got into a boat Right. Many of us are familiar when evening came and they were a long ways from the land

What started happening to the boat? It was beaten by the waves and it says that the wind was against them

They were terrified and in fear and then Jesus miraculously was walking on the water and he spoke to them

He said take heart. It is I do not be afraid and you got to love

Peter He says Lord if it is you command me to come out on the water. So what did Jesus do?

He loved Peter He met him where he was at and he said come And so when

Peter stepped out and he saw or he got out of the boat and he started to walk to Jesus But then he saw the wind and he became afraid and he began to sink and he cried out

Lord save me Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him and when he got into the boat though the wind ceased and those who

Were on the boat Worshipped him and said truly you are the Son of God And so I just I thought what a beautiful picture

So many wonderful principles about when somebody comes under the attacks of the enemies You don't look to the strength of your own mind

But look to Jesus the author and the perfecter of your faith cry out to him Lord. Save me.

He'll do it Right. So look to him pray to grow in spiritual maturity and lock arms together with your brothers and sisters in Christ Let's pray

Heavenly Father. We want to thank you so much for your word that exhorts our heart and God Sometimes is very convicting the

Lord. I pray that that conviction would just not would not stay conviction long But would move us to act

God many of us have been Complacent with how we've been going about life as immature

Believers and God no doubt many people think well, I'm glad I'm not an immature believer and More oftentimes than not that is the exact person that you are talking to calling us to no longer be children

But to stand firm and abide in the word and to know you Relationally and to do these things with our brothers and sisters in Christ Lord.