Growing in Christ

(Ephesians 4:14)

In my last two posts I looked at the ministry gifts given to the Church by God. I considered “what” those gifts are and how they worked in the Church.

I also looked at the reason God gave these gifts, which was to bring Christians to maturity in Christ. God wants His people to be able to stand and be strong, and this is one of the key purposes of His gifts to the church.

Today we look at what maturity looks like and how it will help us as we walk in the Lord.

No longer children

The first thing we see in this verse is that we should no longer be children.

“…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.” (Ephesians 4:14)

If you think about children for a moment, you begin to understand what Paul was talking about.

Children are easily led. They are gullible and easily tricked. They lack knowledge and experience and so they have no means of discerning right or wrong. And they need to be protected.

The point of the ministry gifts in the church is to take “children” in Christ, that is the new disciples, and teach them so that they grow to maturity.

The Lord wants His people to be able to stand up for themselves. He wants them to know right from wrong and to discern good from evil. He does not want them to be tricked by the ploys of the devil into accepting what is false. And the Lord wants His people to be able to protect the flock, which they cannot do if they are immature.

There is no question that Jesus says we must be “like” children when we come to Him. We must accept Him fully and totally, without cynicism, just as a child accepts things. We must be innocent like a child as we come to Christ.

But…

We need to also be able to be strong and stand mature. Even Jesus made this point to differentiate between the innocence of a child and the wisdom of a mature adult. He said:

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)

Being innocent like a dove, or like a child, and being wise as a serpent, or mature like an adult, are not either/or situations. These two positions are not mutually exclusive. Both statuses can be achieved, and it is in wisdom and maturity that we can get to that place in Christ.

Winds of Doctrine

The reason why the Lord wants us to be mature, and thus have the ministry gifts operating correctly in th church, is to ensure the truth of the doctrine and that those in the church understand it.

Where a person does not understand the truth and lock it within their hearts, then they may be influenced by the different doctrines that have permeated the modern church and do nothing helpful but lead people astray.

There are many doctrines in the church today that are false. Half-truths and outright lies that have no basis in the scriptures have been brought into the church by cunning people who are not interested in the truth or the wellbeing of the church. They are interested in their own gain, whether it be financial, prestige or power.

Many of the doctrines that are venerated by the modern church are nothing short of pure deceptions. They are not of the truth and they do not build up but replace the truth of the gospel.

We see some doctrines and new teachings come and go in the church from time to time, and yet the truth has been available since the time of Christ. There is nothing truly new in the gospel of Jesus Christ or the New Covenant.

Some of the winds of doctrine and practises that come to mind are things like, prosperity gospel, divine health, barking or laughing in the Spirit, purgatory, indulgences, praying to the saints, and there are many others.

None of these has any basis in the scripture. They are false and they are lies designed to “tickle the ears” of people who are always looking for the next “big thing,” and what they really do is lead people astray.

This is why we must be mature and why we must be able to discern the truth from lies, especially with regard to a doctrine that comes into the church. Mature Christians need to assess and reject anything false, and it is why God gave the ministry gifts to the church to protect the church from false teachings and to build the church up.

Cunning Men

I have already mentioned that the basis of these lies and falsehoods is from men seeking their own advantage and their own ways. They are not looking to the ways of the Lord, but seek their own pleasure.

And furthermore, these men are being driven by the source of all evil, the devil himself, who is providing these false teachings that cunning men use to bring the church into all kinds of bondage. Note well these words.

15 The serpent [devil] poured water [false teachings] like a river out of his mouth after the woman [church], to sweep her away with the flood. 16 But the earth [false teachers and non-believers] came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river [received the false teachings] which the dragon had poured from his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God [Israel] and bear testimony to Jesus [Christians]. And he stood on the sand of the sea. (Revelation 12:15-17)

This scripture from Revelation 12 is interesting, for it tells us that the devil (who is the serpent) will pour water from his mouth to try and drown the truth. (I have added emphasis in the scripture to assist understanding of these words.)

Think about what comes out of the mouth of people. Words. But in the case of the devil they are false words, lies, false teachings and false doctrines.

His attempt to “drown the woman” refers to the devil flooding the church with his false teachings so as to make it impossible to find the truth.

If you look at the world today, there are so many teachings, sects, denominations and groups in the church that the devil did achieve part of what he set out to do. He did not succeed though, because Jesus has preserved the truth for those who will seek for it.

And seek it we must!

The truth is there to be found, but we must peel back the layers of false teaching and false religion in the church to get to it. We must find what the Bible says, analyse it, pray about it and learn and understand what it says if we are to unravel the full truth.

It is there to be found, but you must be diligent. Remember also the words of Jesus:

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are man. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few. 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:13-16 my emphasis)

I repeat, “…those who find it are few.”

Jesus did not say those who “enter” it are few but those who find it. You have to seek diligently to even find the narrow gate that leads to life, and it will be hard for He says the way is hard, but it is worth it.

And why is it so hard to find and enter? Because in the second part of the above quote, we see that we will have to contend with false prophets and false teachers, purporting to be messengers of God but who are in fact not teaching the things of the Lord but the flood of lies from the devil.

These are the cunning men seeking to take advantage of the Lord’s people. These are the ones who seek to devour the sheep of the flock of God.

This is why we must look to ourselves and seek the truth ourselves. We must go to the Lord individually and study His word to find out the truth and become mature in Christ. We must seek the churches where the ministry gifts of God are working as HE intended, not as some man proclaims.

Then we will know the truth and will be able to learn and grow into maturity as we are growing into Christ.

You might also like:

Beware Of False Prophets And False Teachers
Beware The Leaven Of The Pharisees
Paying Taxes To Caesar
You Shut The Kingdom Of Heaven Against Men
Woe To You Blind Guides
Straining Out A Gnat And Swallowing A Camel
Trouble For The End Times Church
Wherever The Body Is There The Eagles Will Be Gathered
Traditions Of The Elders
Beware The Leaven Of The Pharisees 2
Blind Leading The Blind
A House Built Upon The Rock
Have You Been Hurt By The Church
Once Saved Always Saved
Beware Of The Scribes
Do Not Be Led Astray
Jesus Knew What Was In Man
Who Are You Learning From
Seek And You Will Not Find
Follow Me
Who Should You Listen To
Contrasting Gospels
Many Antichrists
Would You Recognise Jesus
Hold Fast To What Is Good
The Church Defiled