(The Spiritual Man) Christian Perfection — Denny Kenaston

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www .charityministries .org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1 -800 -227 -7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, AFPA, 17522.

These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. May we bow our heads for a word of prayer. Our Lord and our Master, we bow down before Thee again.

Lord, we delight to bow down to Thee. You are the King. You are the Sovereign Lord of the Universe. You are God and beside You there is no other God. Lord and Master, come master us this day, dear Father, through Your Word.

Captivate our heart's attention, dear Father. Send forth Thy grace upon us, Lord. Give us ears to hear this morning what the Spirit of God is saying to these young people in 1998, God. Give us ears to hear what You are saying, Lord.

O Thou God who spoke so clearly in days gone by, raised up such a beautiful early church. I pray, speak again in these last days and raise up a beautiful church in Jesus Christ's name. Greetings to each one of you this morning in Jesus' name.

Christian Perfection as the Goal of the Spiritual Life

I want to speak to you this morning, young people, on this subject. This is the second in the series on the spiritual man. I want to speak this morning on the subject of Christian perfection. On the subject of Christian perfection.

Please don't be scared by that title. Give me a little time, you theologians that are sitting here. Christian perfection. What a joy was mine yesterday to relate to you the account of the story of this couple and their conversion.

What a thrill to my own soul to reflect back over that glorious opportunity and to remember again. What a thrill to lead a soul to Jesus Christ. What a thrill. There's nothing like it this side of heaven.

Dear friends, seek God with all your heart. You may have that blessed opportunity to lead a soul to Jesus Christ. You know, in Korea, this is some time back. I don't know if it's that way today, but twenty, thirty years ago, if you hadn't led a soul to Jesus Christ, you couldn't be a member of the church.

I wonder how many that would throw out. They wondered whether you were truly born again. Well, I'm sure that you will agree, after listening to that story yesterday, that the foundation which is Jesus Christ was clearly laid in the hearts of those two.

That husband and that wife. Someone came to me after the meeting or in the meeting in the evening and related to me their baptism. How that this couple was baptized and they were at this baptism. And with joy just beaming out of them both, they gave testimony of the grace of God in their hearts.

And their testimony was, I know that I know that I know that I have been born again. I like that. You know what they were saying? There is the witness of God's Spirit within me, bearing witness with my spirit that I am a child of God.

And if you don't know that witness, you don't understand what I'm going to say. But if you know that witness, you'll know why they said it that way. Because the Spirit of God bears witness and bears witness and bears witness and bears witness that I am a child of God.

And thus they said, I know that I know that I know that I've been born again. The foundation was clearly laid. And how wonderful that was to hear that testimony last evening. And I rejoiced and assured in my heart that the foundation was laid right.

It was a joy to hear their baptismal testimony. Well, this morning I would like to press upon you this truth that as wonderful as it is, as wonderful as it is that life transforming experience of getting on your knees and having all the burdens washed away and the sins washed away and having the heart turned in a complete different direction, as wonderful as that is, as much of a thrill as it is to our own hearts, it's only the beginning.

It's only the beginning. You know, it's a little bit like telling a young couple on their wedding day who are absolutely overflowing with love and joy for each other. It's a little bit like telling them it's going to get better and better and better.

And they would say, I don't believe it. I'm so full of love right now. What do you mean it will get better and better? But yet it gets better and better and better. And that's only the beginning, my friend.

There is so much more. And this morning, responsibility would call you on from there. On! The words of Paul are fitting. I'll just read them to you here this morning. The words of Paul, and I know a lot of people have controversy about all this, but it seems to me that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews.

But the words of Paul are very fitting this morning, as he says in chapter 6. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and the foundation of faith toward God and the foundation of the doctrines of baptism and the foundation of the laying on of hands and the foundation of the resurrection of the dead and the foundation of eternal judgment.

Those are wonderful principles, but we don't need to lay those foundations anymore. Let us go on unto perfection, he says. There is so much more to learn. And this will we do if God permit. That's my testimony this morning.

This will we do if God permit. When we think of the subject of the spiritual man, it is absolutely vital that we pursue Christian perfection. It doesn't make any sense at all looking at the subject of the spiritual man, which we know that is exactly what God wants for every one of us.

He wants us to be a spiritual man. He wants us to be a spiritual woman. But it absolutely makes no sense at all for us to even think of those words, the spiritual man, if at the same time there isn't a heart that is pursuing Christian perfection.

You cannot have one without the other. They go together. It is possible to have had a new birth experience and then sit down and wait for Jesus to come. That's possible. Like one brother said, after being awakened out of his spiritual slumber, four or five years later, he said these words, Where have I been?

I'll tell you where you've been, friend. You've been asleep. You've been asleep. It is possible. It's a sad thing. But people can be born again and go sit down in a pew somewhere and wait for Jesus to come.

But it's not the will of God. My heart's desire this morning is that I may stir you up, stir your pure minds up by putting you in remembrance of these things which God is calling you to. Sometimes I think the reason why people can do that is because they run to Jesus away from hell.

If that's how you come to Jesus, God bless you, that is one reason that you should. You should run to Jesus to get away from hell. But I'm afraid many times that begins to warp our idea about the whole purpose of God and why Jesus came and why He died.

Because God has so much that He wants to do in your heart and your lives, young people. And it's so much more than a way out of hell. I hope by God's grace to wake some of you up this week. To wake you up.

And I want to remind you that you may not know that you're asleep. You usually don't, you know. You don't know you're asleep until you wake up. And all of a sudden you realize, oh, I was asleep. I was asleep.

Oh, by God's grace, I want to wake some of you up. Stir you up to faith and pursuit of a godly, vibrant Christian life. Which, by the way, is your inheritance. A godly, vibrant Christian life is your inheritance.

Paul's Prayer for Growth in Colossians

Turn with me now to Colossians chapter 1. We want to see a little bit of the heart of the Apostle Paul here. Who, by the way, specialized in doing this very thing. He was always concerned about the churches.

That they would go on. That they would go on. And not stay where they are. Why? Now, Paul, it appears to me in my studies, Paul did not start the church at Colossae. He did not go there like he did in many other places and preach in the synagogue.

And take those converts and gather them together. And put them in an assembly and then go his way. He didn't do that. It appears to me from my studies that Epaphras was the one who started the church in Colossae.

But let's look into the heart of the Apostle Paul. Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and Timotheus our brother. To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colossae. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praying always for you. Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus. And of the love which ye have to all the saints. Now see, the report came to Paul.

God's doing something in Colossae. There's a church beginning to form in Colossae. Some people got born again in Colossae. And the word comes to Paul. We give thanks to God for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven.

I know what it is, Paul says. I know the glorious things that await you. And I've been giving thanks to God ever since I found out that some of you there at Colossae got born again. I'm excited. Giving thanks to God.

For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven. Where have ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. Which is come unto you as it is in all the world and bringeth forth fruit. I want us to notice that little phrase there.

Paul knew. There's been a clear conversion there because the sound is going out and it bringeth forth fruit. A good tree bringeth forth good fruit. And so Paul begins to hear the noise. Something's happening in Colossae.

The gospel has come in there. Emperor Franz was preaching there. The people got born again. And it's clear that they got born again because their lives are now bringing forth the fruits of the gospel.

That made Paul excited. It bringeth forth fruit as it doth also in you since the day ye heard of it and knew the grace of God in truth. As ye also learned of Epiphras our dear fellow servant who is for you a faithful minister of Christ.

Who also declared unto us your love in the spirit. He gave the report to Paul. What wonderful things God is doing. Oh you should see. You should see Paul. You should see how much they're in love with each other.

You should see how much they love Jesus. You should see the spiritual tenor of this little church at Colossae. And then Paul says, oh I heard these things. And for this cause we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you.

And to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. I begin to pray for you that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing. I begin to pray for you that you might be fruitful in every good work.

I begin to pray for you that you would be increasing in the knowledge of God. I begin to pray for you that you would be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power. I begin to pray for you that you might be strengthened unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.

Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Now I think it's very clear to all of you as we look at these scriptures what Paul was concerned about.

He was concerned about Christian perfection in the lives of this new little church. He wanted them to go on. It wasn't enough for them to be there rejoicing that their names were written in heaven. He wanted them to go on and as soon as he found out that God had done a work there in that place, he began to pray some of those powerful and awesome and mighty prayers that he prayed in Colossians and also in Ephesians.

And for the Thessalonians, I believe that was one of Paul's most effective ministries. He prayed, but look at the things that he prayed. I mean, he wasn't playing games. He wasn't just saying, Lord, keep them.

He was saying, God, I pray that You will fill them with all the knowledge of Your will, that their hearts would be so filled with a revelation of the will of God for their lives that they will be totally changed.

That's what Paul began to pray, and that they would be filled with the power of God's Spirit each and every day. Dear young people, this morning I want to propose to you that that is what Christian perfection is.

James on Trials, Patience, and Spiritual Maturity

Christian perfection. James said it this way to the Jewish church which was scattered abroad. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

But let patience have her perfect work in you, that you would be entire. How does he say it? That you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Oh, my. That's what he wanted for them. And he told them, hey, when the trials come, don't worry about it.

Rejoice. The end of it all is perfection. So let patience have her perfect work in you. That's what James said to the Jewish church that was scattered abroad. What does the word perfect mean? Well, if we look the word up in the Old Testament, and I did, here are some of the words that came up.

Complete. Full. Just. Made ready. And upright. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 17. We have a beautiful example of what Christian perfection is in Genesis chapter 17, where God said to Abraham, reading from verse 1 through 9, and when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, I am the Almighty God.

I am the All-Sufficient One. I am El Shaddai. I am the Many-Breasted One. I am the One that has all that you need. I am the One who is filled with power. And I believe that day when God said those words to Abraham, he didn't just hear them in his ear.

He had a revelation, a new revelation of what God was all about. And with that revelation came a command from God. Walk before me and be thou perfect, Abraham. Walk before me and be thou perfect. And in the margin of my Bible it says, walk uprightly with all sincerity.

Abraham, I am El Shaddai. I am God Almighty. I am the Most Powerful One. Walk before me and be thou perfect. And look what God says then from there. And Abraham, if you will walk before me and be perfect, you will find the most beautiful will of God unfolding before your very eyes and your life.

And I say to you young people today the very same words. If you will walk before God and be perfect, and day after day after day, you will find unfolding before you the most beautiful and perfect will of God that you can't even imagine as you sit here today.

Walk before Him and be thou perfect. He is El Shaddai. He is Almighty God. He is the All-Sufficient One who will meet your every need. But look what He said to Abraham. Walk before Me and be thou perfect, and I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly, Abraham.

And oh, Abraham fell on his face and God talked with him. What a beautiful picture! I like to envision things when I read them. What a picture there! He got a revelation of God. And with that revelation came responsibility.

And with that revelation came a command. And with that revelation God began to open up His will to Abraham. And Abraham fell on his face and worshiped God. Beautiful. God talked with him saying, Abraham, as for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be called Abraham. For a father of many nations have I made thee, and I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee, Abraham.

And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. Behold, what a promise he got that day.

What a promise God gave him. But remember, God said, Walk before Me, Abraham, and be thou perfect. Walk with an upright and a sincere heart, Abraham, and I will fulfill all this will in your life. Oh, that's thrilling.

The Rich Young Ruler and the Cost of Following Christ

That's thrilling. So that's a good Old Testament example of what Christian perfection is all about. Now, let's go to the New Testament. In the New Testament, you look up the word perfect and perfection in the New Testament, and here's what words come up.

Entire. Complete. Mental and moral character. Mature. And upright. Entire and complete. Mature and upright. Mental and moral character. And I'd like for us to look in Matthew 19 for an example of Christian perfection in the New Testament.

Matthew 19. You know the story, but we're going to read it. It's the story of the rich young ruler who lost one of the most powerful, beautiful opportunities that any man could have in his lifetime. But dear friends, the same opportunity is laid out before you this morning.

But this man walked away from it. He often wondered what he would have been if he would have took the advice the Lord Jesus gave to him. Matthew 19, verses 16 -22. And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one. That is God. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments. The rich young ruler said, he saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Oh, the young man saith unto him, Ha! All these things have I kept from my youth up. Foolish young man. He didn't know his own heart, did he? He didn't know his own heart. He thought he knew his own heart, but he didn't know his own heart.

Now, if we were to look through all the Gospels, one of the Gospels, and I don't know which one it is, but one of the Gospels, it says that Jesus looked at him and loved him. I like that. You know, no judgment in the Lord Jesus Christ's heart toward this young man, even though those words were, Oh!

He knew exactly where this young man was at, and those words could have upended him, but the Bible says that Jesus looked at him and loved him. And then he said this. Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me, he said.

You may look at that and say, wait, those were hard words that he said to that young man. But, if you look a little deeper, you'll realize they were very basic words. You see, because the commandment is to love God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.

That's the commandment. Upon these two hang all the commandments. And he said, Oh, I kept all of these. And Jesus said in his heart, No, you didn't. No, you didn't. You didn't love your neighbor. You didn't love your neighbor.

Go sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. And, you didn't love God. Then come and follow me. I'm God. And he went away sorrowful. I wonder what would have happened to that rich young ruler if he would have taken those words and said, This is the opportunity of my lifetime.

Opportunity of my lifetime. And went and sold everything that he had. And gave it to the poor. And joined the Lord Jesus. Why, he might have been one of those apostles that Philip talked about. But instead, it's just a sad story about a rich young ruler.

Just a sad story. Christian perfection. Do you see what Jesus was saying to him? There's some major things wrong in your heart, rich young ruler. And all I want you to do is get them right. That's all.

I want you to get them right. And God is saying to us today the same thing. There may be some major thing wrong in your heart. And if thou wilt be perfect, you will make it right. This week. This week.

Christian Perfection as Godlike Character

Turn to Matthew chapter 5. Christian perfection is maturity of character. Christian perfection is not sinless perfection. Christian perfection is not that you will never sin again. That you will be a perfect person.

You will do everything right from this day forward. That's not what Christian perfection is. But, Christian perfection is. And we need to come to grips with what it is. Reading in Matthew chapter 5 verse 38 through 48.

We get a bit of a glimpse of what Christian perfection is. May I read verse 48? Jesus ended this little group of verses with these words. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Now verse 38. Ye have heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Somebody punches your eye out, you go punch his eye out.

But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And, if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

And, whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain, go with him two miles, compel thee to go a mile. There was a law, there was a law, Roman law. A Roman soldier could walk up to somebody any time of the day and say, carry my bags one mile.

It was kind of a disgusting thing that Jews didn't like to carry the Roman soldier's bags for a mile. They didn't think he belonged around there anyway. And it was not an easy thing. If a Roman soldier walked up to you and said, hey, carry my bags.

And you had to do it. He was a soldier. You'd be in trouble. Jesus said, when that soldier comes up to you and says, carry my bags for a mile. When you get done with that first mile, you look up in his face and you say, sir, could I carry him another mile for you, please?

Could I? What do you think that soldier thought? Huh? Nobody does that. But I say unto you, whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain, go with him two miles, give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow a bee, turn not thy way.

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies. Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that hate you.

And pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father. Oh, I want to be the child of my Father. I want to be like my Father, that ye may be the children of your Father, which is in heaven.

For he maketh his thunder eyes on the evil and on the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others?

Do not even the publicans so. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, which is in heaven, is perfect. We think of this matter of Christian perfection, we are talking about maturity of character, God-like character.

God wants us to have God-like character. Amen? Amen. Is that right? In fact, the whole sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, is a treatise on Christian perfection. The whole thing. Think about it. He deals with heart issues and tells us to go beyond the norm.

He deals with motives and tells us to go beyond the norm. He deals with attitudes and tells us to go beyond the norm. He deals with actions and challenges us to go beyond the norm. The whole Sermon on the Mount is a treatise on Christian perfection.

In fact, some time ago, years ago, I was reading through the Sermon on the Mount and I got to the end of the Sermon on the Mount and I wrote these words. And it's the words of a book by William Law. I wrote these words.

A serious call to a devout and holy life. That's what the Sermon on the Mount is. It is a serious call to a devout and a holy life. Paul said it this way in Philippians 3. After spending the whole chapter describing to us what the Christian life is supposed to be like, telling us about the testimony of his one-mindedness, in that he counted all things but done for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, and he laid everything else aside and the only thing he wanted to do was win Christ.

And that was the motivation of his heart. That was the burden of his heart. That was the vision of his heart. That was the centrality of his heart. It was Christ and only Christ, the honored, loved, and exalted every moment of every day in my life.

That was Paul's testimony in Philippians 3. Then he says this at the end of the chapter. Let those who are perfect be thus minded. Be thus minded. When we begin to get a glimpse of the New Testament definitions of Christian perfection, and I like this, it puts us all in the same place on our face continually.

It doesn't matter if you're 25 years old in the Lord or you're 10 days old in the Lord. It puts us all in the same place on our face before God continually. And what a beautiful place to be, young people.

What a beautiful place to be on your face before God continually. Oh, if somehow you could learn that that is the way to live your Christian life. You never arrive, this matter of Christian perfection, you never arrive.

It's something you pursue the rest of your life. But it's something that you must begin to pursue. And for some of you, you may need to make a conscious effort this week, a soul determination that you are going to pursue Christian perfection in your life.

Seeking Christ Through Conversion and Surrender

When I think about Christian perfection, I think about this couple who we mentioned yesterday. They came to my mind again when I think about Christian perfection because they came to the Lord for salvation out of a desire for Christian perfection.

That's why they came. They were one of those that were under the New Testament law. And they were trying to make this thing work and it wasn't working, but they wanted it to work. And they were trying to be spiritual, but they couldn't be spiritual.

And they were trying to have their prayers, but they just couldn't pray. And they were trying to be all that God wanted them to be and all the New Testament said they could be, but they couldn't do it.

But eventually, out of a desire for Christian perfection in their life, they heard a sermon and they found out that the whole foundation was not laid right. And they said, because we want to be perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect, we're going to come to the Lord.

And I tell you, some of you young people here today, that's a very good reason for you to come to the Lord today. You know you don't have to come to the Lord because you're afraid of hell. Especially you dear young people.

So many of you growing up in a Christian here this morning and you say, I want to be perfect. My life is not perfect. And it's okay to come just because you realize my life is not glorifying God. And I'm not going to have it another day.

My life is not glorifying God. That's a beautiful motivation to come to Christ. Amen, preachers? That's a beautiful reason. You don't have to run out of hell to come to Jesus. Why don't you come because you know a little bit who He is, and you know a little bit about who God is, and you know that your life is not what it ought to be, and you know that you're not glorifying God in your body and in your spirit.

Why don't you come that way and say, out of a desire for Christian perfection, I'm going to sell out to the Lord and make it real clear. When we think of Christian perfection, we also see so clearly in the New Testament that God's standard of Christian perfection is a clean, pure, upright heart.

And here I speak to all of you, because some of you may have lost your way. You may look back at a time and you know without a doubt, I was soundly and clearly converted back there, but yet you have lost your way.

And you know as you sit here today that things are not right in your hearts. And you know it! Christian perfection is when you begin to pursue that thing with everything you've got and say, I am going to get thoroughly right with God.

And dear young people, when you get there, you're beginning to touch Christian perfection. I'm going to get thoroughly right with God that I can walk my days with an upright heart. That's what Abraham did.

This week can be a new beginning for you. Let us get thoroughly right with God and don't hold back. Don't hold back. I don't know why you came to Bible school, but I know why God brought you here. Dear young people, I know why God brought you here.

He is brooding over your life. He wants to do a work in you. He wants to transform you. He wants to bring you to that place where your life is so clearly glorifying Him. I know that's why God brought you here.

I don't know why you came, what your motivations were, but it's time to wake up out of sleep for some of you who realize why God brought me here. And I think of Christian perfection. Christian perfection is a stable walk with a holy God.

A stable walk with a holy God. We're going to talk some more about that as the week goes by, but I want to make it one of the points here this morning. John 15, abiding in the vine. Jesus said, Abide in Me.

Abide in Me. I am the vine. Ye are the branches. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in Me. That word abide means to be vitally connected with Jesus Christ.

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, except it be vitally connected with the vine, no more can ye except ye are vitally connected with the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christian perfection is pursuing that kind of relationship that you have a stable walk with God.

Dear young people, it is God's will that you learn how to walk with God. And my heart just leaps within me when I think about what you could get this week and all that God wants to do in your heart that you can learn to walk with God.

The most exciting thing you'll find walking with God. God wants to walk with you. Christian perfection is abiding in the vine, walking in the light as He is in the light, having fellowship one with another this way and this way.

And the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, keeps on cleansing us and keeps on cleansing us from all sin. Oh, it's a beautiful walk, young people. A beautiful walk. When I think of Christian perfection, it is developing.

The developing of godly, Christ-like character. It's having the image of Christ stamped upon your heart day by day. It's having the image of Christ stamped upon your heart day by day. Christian perfection.

To be like Jesus. Not because you make yourself do it, but because the image of Christ is stamped upon your heart. You go that way. That's Christian perfection. We know that 2 Peter chapter 1 tells us that the exceeding great and precious promises are given that we might be partakers of the divine nature.

That godly character would be given unto us. All things that pertain unto life and godliness would be given unto us through the exceeding great and precious promises. You might be godly or like God in character.

Like God in character. That overall place of stability and steadiness, knowing how to walk, knowing how to talk, knowing how to live, knowing how to weather the storms, being able to stand alone in the midst of trials, that's maturity.

There is such a thing as a mature Christian, young people. And God wants you to be one. God wants you to be one. I believe that with all of my heart. I don't believe this morning that I am raising a standard up before you that you cannot attain.