Adolph Saphir:
Christian maturity shows itself in knowledge. We are to be men in understanding.
The apostolic prayer is, that believers may be filled with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. We are to “go on unto perfection.” We have received the unction from above, from the Holy One, and therefore possess the power to know all things. It is through the truth that the Father sanctifies us. Growth in the knowledge of Jesus Christ is the necessary manifestation of life. This knowledge increases not merely in compass, but in depth; it assumes the character of intense conviction.
In this respect mature Christians form a strong contrast to a peculiarity of our present age. A keen observer thus describes this feature of our day: “A weak generation feels it pleasant to be waved to and fro by every wind of doctrine; a childish and effeminate race deems it an advantage to have no fixed conviction, and would find it tiresome to continue with life-long loyalty in the one truth, and to find peace in the one thought.” It is constant change—the intellectual activity and excitement in the search after truth, and not truth itself—which is their great object. Hence words, brilliant and subtle dialectics, negative doubts, and attacks on old opinions afford the nutriment of many minds.
This tendency affects even Christians; but God has revealed to us by His Spirit Himself and the spiritual realities of His heavenly kingdom. We know the things freely given to us of God. Jesus is the Truth. And the Spirit, whom we have received, leads us into the whole truth, according to the Savior’s promise.
It does not become the Christian, with Christ his light, with the Holy Ghost his teacher, with Scripture his manual, to speak as the children of the age, who possess opinions, but not truth; who, seeking to establish a wisdom of their own, have not submitted themselves to the wisdom of God. But to be established in the truth is the characteristic of Christian manhood, the result of diligent, earnest, and conscientious study of God’s word.
“Therefore…let us go on to maturity.”
Good things to ponder, friends…