Growing Spiritually
Amen Podcast
Alex Wilson
5 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2025
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Introduction: The Two Ages in Scripture
Throughout the Bible, we see a consistent theme of two distinct ages:
* The Present Age - characterized by rebellion, sin, and death
* The Age to Come - characterized by God's rule and righteousness
As Christians, we live in the tension between these two ages. Christ's death and resurrection have ushered in the age to come, yet we still experience the realities of the present age.
Key Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:6-7
"We do, however, speak a wisdom among the mature but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. On the contrary, we speak God's hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory."
What is Spiritual Maturity?
1. Spiritual maturity is not about physical age
* Example: Samuel as a boy hearing God's voice (1 Samuel 3)
* Contrast: Eli, physically mature but spiritually dull
* Timothy being told, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you're young"
2. Spiritual maturity is characterized by obedience
* Moving from spiritual milk to solid food (Hebrews 5:14)
* "The reason why Christians don't mature in the church is because they don't walk in obedience"
* Growth happens when we do what God has told us to do
3. Spiritual maturity means accepting reality
* Recognizing we live in a fallen world
* "Spiritual maturity is realizing I can't always get what I want"
* Not being flustered when things don't go our way (like Esther, Ruth, and Mary)
4. Spiritual maturity means responding to God's voice
* Samuel's response: "Speak, for your servant is listening"
* Answering God directly instead of always running to intermediaries
* Jesus' sacrifice ensures we can hear God's voice
How to Grow Spiritually
* Recognize the age you belong to: You were born into the present age but born again into the age to come
* Walk in obedience: Don't justify sin while expecting spiritual growth
* Exercise faith: "Everything in your life requires faith"
* Respond when God calls: Like Samuel, be quick to say "Here I am"
* Accept your inability to control everything: Christianity isn't about controlling the world but about living faithfully within it
The Glory That Awaits
* "A Christian's glory is that we might be like Christ"
* God predestined this glory "before the ages" (1 Cor 2:7)
* Jesus died so we could hear God's voice like Samuel did
* In spiritual maturity, "there is nothing that the gates of hell will prevail over you"
Closing Challenge
Where is God asking you to mature, and you're not listening?
Where is He saying, "just grow up"?
What area of obedience is He calling you to embrace today?
"Spiritual maturity is having the knowledge that I am not a part of this age. I'm a part of the age to come."
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amenpodcast.substack.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey there, welcome to House Church. Today, we're in the Corinthians series, looking at First |
| 0:05.4 | Corinthians chapter 2, verses 6 through 7. Enjoy. Amen. It's a good way to start the week |
| 0:12.3 | at church. Amen? Yeah, 1 Corinthians chapter 2. We're going to look at verses 6 and 7 today. |
| 0:24.3 | 1 Corinthians chapter 2 versus 6 and 7. |
| 0:27.9 | Father, thank you just so much for an opportunity to share your word. |
| 0:31.6 | And we just thank you for what your word means to us and how it just transforms the way that we see this life |
| 0:38.7 | in the age that we live in today. And your name we pray, amen. So the kids and I turned on |
| 0:44.6 | Moana too a couple weeks ago. And as we're watching it, I realized like Disney really wants to |
| 0:50.1 | feminize men. There's this one scene where Moana's dad, the chief of their village, does |
| 0:56.0 | this like hair flip and all the other guys in the village start doing hair flips. And Moana |
| 1:01.5 | and other people are like, what is going on? And the dad is like, it's called a hair flip. And they're |
| 1:06.6 | just doing this like really feminine like hair whip, okay? Doing this really feminine action in the movie. |
| 1:14.1 | And for the, for my kids, it just goes over their head. |
| 1:17.1 | And that's because the Bible talks about two ages. |
| 1:21.1 | The Bible all throughout scripture talks about two different ages. |
| 1:24.4 | There's the age to come and then there's the present age. The present age |
| 1:28.5 | is an age that is characterized by rebellion, by sin, by death, and that's the age that we're in |
| 1:34.6 | right now. But at the cross and at the resurrection, there was ushered in a new age, right? And it's |
| 1:41.8 | literally the Christian new age. I know that sounds paradoxical |
| 1:45.0 | but it's also called the age to come in scripture my kids are still like for the |
| 1:52.1 | most part a part of that present age they're still they were born into the |
| 1:56.4 | present age of rebellion the age of sin and so stuff like that we'll just go over their heads but for their mom and I who have entered into the age of rebellion, the age of sin. And so stuff like that will just go over their heads. |
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