God is constantly at work in our life,
continually building faith in us and bringing us
to spiritual maturity.
And that's what I want to speak about
today, friends, God and spiritual maturity.
Because once you get a taste of the
life of faith, you don't want anything more
to do with a life of sin.
You just want to keep going deeper with
God.
If you've ever been around a real man
of God, you know it.
He stands out in 2 Kings 4.9.
We have the account of the Shumanite woman's
encounter with the prophet Elijah, where we read,
And she said unto her husband, Behold now
I perceive that this is a holy man
of God, which passes by us continually.
This reminds me of a Dr. Olford was
invited to preach at a Baptist church in
Dallas, and the pastor of that church told
a seminary intern to go and pick up
Stephen Olford at the airport.
The intern asked to see a photo of
Dr. Olford so he would recognize him at
the airport.
The pastor replied, No need for that.
Just go to the airport terminal and wait
for the passengers to get off the plane
and then look for a man who has
God all over him.
Well, this young man went to the airport
and did what the pastor told him to.
And as soon as Stephen Olford passed by,
he knew it was him.
Every time I was around Stephen Olford, it
was a transformational experience because he made me
more thirsty for Jesus.
He made me long to be more holy
for Christ.
This whole matter of men on the move
for God and men being used of God
reminds me of what Adrian Rogers once told
me.
Adrian Rogers always made me think of Jesus
because when I was with him, I felt
like I was with Jesus.
But he said something to me that still
sticks out in my memory.
We were at the funeral of Stephen Olford,
which was held at Bellevue Baptist Church and
Dr. Rogers conducted the memorial service.
After the service was over, I was standing
in the hallway with Adrian Rogers and he
asked me a question.
He stood there with his arms folded across
his chest and a serious look on his
face.
And he said, Do you know what concerns
me?
I answered, No, Dr. Rogers.
What concerns you?
In his deep, booming voice, he said, What
concerns me is I see God calling up
men like Sidlo Baxter and Stephen Olford, and
I look around and I don't see any
comeuppers.
What he was saying was our churches don't
lack educated men or professionals in the pulpit,
but where, oh, where is the man of
God endued with the Spirit of God who
will take the book of God and go
preach the Son of God to a perishing
world?
Adrian Rogers and Stephen Olford were men who
had an excited and elevated air of anticipation
about them, an expectation of what God was
about to do through them.
You could just sense that by being around
them.
They were men on the move for God
because they were men completely sold out to
God.
They had tasted something that most men had
not, and they had experienced something that few
men had, an intimate, vital walk with God.
They had seen God at work in the
life of His people.
They had tasted His goodness, and they wanted
more of it.
They longed to have more of God, and
they longed for God to have more of
them, and that was the key, friends.
R.
A.
Torrey was teaching some Bible students at Moody
Bible Institute, and he told them, If you
want more of the Holy Spirit, then let
the Holy Spirit have more of you.
Well, let me make one thing perfectly clear,
friends.
We have to long for more of God,
to be used more of God.
We have to be willing to undergo change
and be emptied of self so Christ can
rule and reign on the throne of our
life, and we need to be aware that
God is active in our life each day,
working continually at work in us, building faith
in us, and teaching us His truths in
order to bless us and bring us to
spiritual maturity.
God invites us to participate with Him in
His work so we can experience Him in
a deeper way.
He will prepare us like He did Joseph.
He will purge us like He did Jonah.
He will prune us like He did Peter
to make us more fruitful and useful to
Him.
God will bring us to more and more
spiritual maturity so we can enjoy Him more
now, and when He calls us home, we
can enjoy Him even more forever and ever.