The Roadmap to Maturity | Part 1

How are you reading the roadmap to maturity? Listen to Adrian Rochester and Bible teacher Adrian Rogers. You know, it's important to know where we are in our spiritual maturity in order to grow into what we could be. The Bible places men and women in three different categories, natural, spiritual, or carnal. As Christians, we want to be spiritual men and women, but in order to get there, we must begin to see the Bible as our roadmap to maturity. If you have a copy of the scriptures, turn now to 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

As Adrian Rogers begins part 1 of the roadmap to maturity. This is the category of the natural man or the natural woman. Now let's try and go down to verse 15. Look in verse 15. But he that is spiritual, that's the second category of persons here today. He that is spiritual. Alright, now go right on through chapter 3 to verse 1. And I, brethren, cannot speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal.

Underscore the phrase, the word, carnal. There you have the three categories of persons. There is the natural man. There is the spiritual man. There is the carnal man. Either you're a natural man, a spiritual man, or a carnal man. You're a natural woman, a spiritual woman, or a carnal woman. Now, we divide people into different categories.

We say there's upper class, middle class, lower class, there's this or that. But it's not the blue book of society or the blank book of finance, but it is God's book, the Bible, that puts us into these categories. Now, you say, why do you want me to categorize myself? Well, obviously, I want you to be a spiritual person. But you see, the Bible is like a roadmap to guide you to get to where you need to be.

You are now. Now, if you don't know where you are now, what good is the map? But if you know where you are now, you can say, I'm here, and this is where I need to get to.

You've been to buildings, big buildings, and they will have a schematic of that building. Then there will be a little red dot, and it will say, you are here. So, what I want you to do is to find out where you are in order to help you to get to where you need to be. The first question asked a man in the Garden of Eden was this, Adam, where are you? Now, God was not asking for information. God knew where Adam was.

God wanted Adam to know where Adam was and to know the predicament that Adam was in. So, here's what I want us to do. I want us to ask three questions. The first question I want to ask, and I want you to answer it, are you a natural man doing what comes naturally? Well, you say, yes, that sounds pretty good to me to do what comes naturally.

Well, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 3, you are by nature the children of wrath. Now, let me tell you about the natural man, what he's like. I want to give you three marks of the natural man. First of all, he is born into the natural world. He is born just like anybody else. He has a natural birth, and he's born once.

He's born into the natural world. We had a former vice president of the United States who said this. When he heard that one of the other presidents said he'd been born again, this vice president said this, and I couldn't believe he could say this, but he said it openly and publicly. They asked him, have you been born twice? He said, no, I haven't been born twice. He said, I count myself lucky to have been born once. But he said, I certainly haven't been born twice.

I count myself lucky to be born once if he hadn't been born twice. Because, you see, if you're born once, you die twice. The first death is the physical death. The second death is eternal death. But if you're born twice, you can only die once.

You may die physically, but that which is born again goes on and on and on and on. You see, the problem with man is what he received by his first birth. He is born into the natural world. I have reminded you before that if you have an apple and see a wormhole in that apple, don't worry about the worm having come in through that hole. He didn't come in through that hole. He went out through that hole. The wormhole didn't let the worm in.

It let the worm out. You say, well, how did the worm get in the apple? He was born in the blossom. He was hatched in the blossom. The egg was laid in the blossom, and that worm came out of the heart of that apple, and it came out of the heart of that apple to the earth.

It came out to the outer extremity of that apple. And Jesus says that all of the sins that are in mankind come out of the heart. You never have to teach a baby to steal. You have to teach a baby not to steal.

Isn't that true? You never have to teach a baby to be selfish. You have to teach a baby not to be selfish. You never have to teach a baby to tell lies. You have to teach a baby not to tell lies. The Bible said the wicked are strange from the womb. They go astray speaking lies as soon as they are born. The natural man, he is born into the natural world.

He's only had one birth. I want to say this. The very best quality in every individual, and then somehow combine all of those qualities into one individual, there would not be enough goodness in that one individual to save his one soul. He would have to bow at the cross and receive Jesus Christ. The Bible says in our own nature, there is nothing good. We are by nature children of wrath. The natural man is born into the natural world. And therefore, he is blind to the spiritual world. Look in verse 14. He does not welcome spiritual things.

He has no appreciation for spiritual things. Now, you put a natural man in a church service like this. There are a lot of things that a natural man could appreciate. A natural man could enjoy this choir. A natural man could enjoy handshaking around. He said, I like that.

Those are friendly folks. I like that. A natural man could enjoy hearing a message. He said, yeah, that makes sense. I can understand what that fellow is saying.

A natural man can get excited about a Sunday school attendance campaign, meeting a budget, building a building. But the natural man, he can understand those things, but he does not understand the things of the Spirit of God. Now, go back to chapter 1 and look in verse 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.

Do you see that? It's foolishness. Look again in verse 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.

They're foolishness unto him. He doesn't understand what we were talking about when we were saying, hallelujah. Praise God. Praise the Lamb that Jesus died for our sins. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. He doesn't understand that.

Why are these folks so excited? You see, he's born in the natural world. He is blind to the spiritual world. He doesn't enjoy the true things of God.

Oh, he can enjoy the externals. You know, you put a natural man in heaven, did you know what? He'd be miserable. Unless he gets born again. There are people who think they want to live forever.

They don't even know what to do on a rainy afternoon. What do they do in eternity, for all eternity, not being able to say, hallelujah, praise the Lamb. That's what they're going to do through all eternity is worship and praise the Lord Jesus Christ.

The natural man is born into the natural world. He, my friend, is blind to the spiritual world. You see, he has no appreciation. He has no understanding. Look in verse 14 again. It says, neither can he know them. He couldn't figure it out if he wanted to. Don't get the idea, friend, that you can bring your intellect to this book and say, I'm going to rip truth out of this book.

You can't do it. Until you get born again, you will never understand this book. You will know the words, but you will never get the music.

You will never understand. The Bible says, neither can he know them. They are spiritually discernible. They're discerned.

They're spiritually understood. Say, well, why can't I? Well, let me give you a modern-day illustration. If you had a little monitor, you could pick up maybe Gilligan's Island. You could pick up a replay of Yesterday's Sports.

You could get this thing or that thing. All of those things are there, but you'd have to have a tuner to bring that out of the air so you could see it and receive it. Now, your great-great-grandfather would not believe that if you told them that all these things in the air, if you were to bring him out of that generation But we know that's true. There's an unseen world. There's a spiritual world, broadcasting on station W-O-R-D, the Word of God. But unless you have the receiver, the problem with a natural man is he has no antenna.

He has no antenna. The Bible says he does not welcome the things of God, and neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. They are spiritually understood. Nicodemus was a master in Israel, but Jesus did not. He just said, Are you a master in Israel, and you don't understand these things? You see, he had all of this education, but he could not understand. When you talk to an unsaved man about Jesus, and he may remonstrate with you, and he may say, I just don't see it. Don't argue with him, for in he doesn't see it.

He is telling the truth. He just doesn't see it. He is born to the natural world. He is blind to the spiritual world, and therefore he is bound to the material world. I'm talking about the natural man. He's born in the natural world, blind to the spiritual world, and therefore he is bound to the material world. This world is the only world that he knows. He is a materialist, pure and simple.

He has no capacity for spiritual things. The Bible speaks of these in Jude, verse 19, as sensual, having not the Spirit. And the word sensual is the same word that's translated here as natural. It's the same word in the Greek language.

Natural or sensual, he lives by senses. I had the privilege to go to Moscow, and in Moscow, I was invited into the mayor's office, the mayor of Moscow. We went in through that, up those marble stairs, over that red carpet, into the office of the mayor of Moscow and into that boardroom.

And sat there with the people who administrate that great city. I said several things to them. I wanted them to understand who we are and what we believe, who evangelical Christians are. But I said to them, I hope in this revolution and this renaissance that you're having here, that as you look toward the west, that you don't try to emulate everything in the west. And that you don't think that the secret of the west is capitalism. And I said, very frankly, I believe in capitalism. I believe it's far better than communism. But I said, I want you to learn this, that capitalism and communism are two forms of materialism.

Both of them. Both capitalism and communism. I said, let me tell you what capitalism can provide for you. The very best it can provide for you is what I would call a good dog's life. I said, if you give a dog a warm place to sleep, give a dog adequate food to eat, give a dog some affection, rub his head, scratch him behind the ears, pat him a little, give him a sense of achievement, maybe a Frisbee to catch. One time I said a cat to chase, and a lady wrote me a message like I was in favor of dogs chasing cats.

And she was very irate. So, a Frisbee to catch, all right. I don't want you to miss the point. Give that dog those four things. Creature comforts, affection, a sense of achievement, and he'll be a happy dog. But I said to those men who told those men what I want to say to you, man is more than an animal. He has a capacity for God. And if all he has is just those four things, a place to sleep, something to eat, some love and affection, and a sense of achievement, all he has is what a dog could expect.

He's more than that. He's a spiritual creature. And I told those men what I want to tell you, that the crisis in the world today is a spiritual crisis. And the deep longing, the hunger of men's hearts is for God. Augustine said, there's a God-shaped vacuum in every man's heart, and man will never be satisfied until he knows the Lord. But what about the natural man?

Are you a natural man? He's born into the natural world. He is blind to the spiritual world, and he is bound to the material world.

He's just bound to it. He cannot know God. He cannot fellowship with God.

He must be born again in order for that to happen. Now, that's the first category. Let's move to the second category of persons. The first category is the natural man. Now, the second category, there's the spiritual man. Verse 15, but he that is spiritual. Now, the natural man does what is natural.

He does what comes naturally. The spiritual man does what comes supernaturally. The spiritual man has not been born only once.

He has been born twice. Look, if you will, in verses 11 and 12. Verse 12 says, he has received the Spirit of God.

Now, notice verse 12. Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God. The spiritual man lives by the Spirit. He lives by the Spirit. Verse 12 says he has received the Spirit of God. He has received the Spirit of God.

That is, this man has been born twice. He's been born of the Spirit. What is salvation? Salvation is not merely getting man out of earth into heaven. It is getting God out of heaven into man. He receives the Spirit of God. He has been born again. Learn this about Christians. Christians are not just natural people who decide to do better.

Christians have been radically, dramatically, supernaturally changed by something called a new birth. He receives the Spirit of God. God moves into him.

God inhabits his humanity. Now, don't get the idea that a Christian, therefore, is like a tadpole who becomes a frog. You see, there is a frog in every tadpole, and if he just keeps maturing, he'll become a frog. Now, that's the kind of Christianity some people believe in.

They think, well, I'll go to church and learn to do better. I'll grow up and be the frog I ought to be. A Christian is not like a tadpole who has become a frog. A Christian is like a frog who has become a prince by the kiss of grace. It is a miracle. It is a miracle. It is not just simply a change, a gradual change becoming more of what we are by nature.

It is becoming what we could never be by nature. He is a person, number one, who lives by the Spirit. He has received a new life, and because he lives by the Spirit, he learns from the Spirit. Now, look in verse 12. Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God.

Now, watch it. That we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. When you receive the Spirit, you receive the organ of spiritual knowledge that you might know God. Now, remember the natural man, verse 14, he doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness unto him. He can't know them because they're spiritually discerned.

They're spiritually understood. So, when a man receives God, he receives, when he's born again, he receives life from the Spirit. He lives by the Spirit, and he learns by the Spirit. When you get saved, even if you're a little child, God turns the light on in your soul. The Bible says the Spirit of man is the candle of the Lord.

What does that mean? When God wants to illuminate you, he takes your human spirit. He puts the oil of his Holy Spirit in that human lamp, and God illumines you. The spiritual man lives by the Spirit. He learns from the Spirit, and he is liberated through the Spirit.

Let me show you this. Look now in verse 15. Look at it, verse 15. The spiritual man himself is judged of no man. Now, what does that mean, judges all things? Does that mean he sits on a bench and he says, this is right and this is wrong?

No, no, no. It's talking about inward discernment. Actually, some translations give it this way. The spiritual man discerns all things. He has a different value system.

He sees things through a different lens. Actually, this word, discern, is a legal word. And what it means is this. It means to make an examination. And on the basis of that examination, make moral and spiritual judgment. He that is spiritual makes an examination.

And on the basis of that examination, he makes moral and spiritual judgment. But what is the difference between the natural man who tries to do that and the spiritual man? Well, the spiritual man, he sees with the mind of Christ. When a man receives the Spirit of God, he learns through the Spirit. He lives through the Spirit.

He is liberated through the Spirit because this world system doesn't squeeze him into its mold. He sees through things. He sees what is happening in today's world. He's not like the marching millions that are going on to oblivion and going on to hell.

He has a value system that is completely different. He sees things from God's viewpoint. He has the mind of Christ. And he sees through this world. He's not bound to the material world. He is liberated. He is liberated by the Spirit of God. He sees through things. Now, the Bible says he discerns all things. He judges all things, but no man judges him. What does that mean?

It means he understands the unsaved man, but the unsaved man doesn't understand him. They think that we are Looney Tunes. They really do. I mean, they think that somehow we have jumped the track. The Bible says they think it's strange that we don't run with them in their excessive riot. They think that we are the funny ones. Like that woman went to the psychiatrist, had the fried egg on her head and two strips of bacon over each ear.

She said, I came to see you about my brother. They really think that we are the funny ones. The spiritual discerns all things. He judges all things, but no man judges him. They don't understand him.

They don't know what makes him tick. So what are the marks of a spiritual man? He lives by the Spirit. He learns from the Spirit.

He is liberated through the Spirit. What Jesus is, what he means to you, how to begin a relationship with God through Christ. Go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio.

You'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about faith in Christ. lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus at the top of the page. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's message, call us at 1-877-LOVE-GOD and request The Roadmap to Maturity. This message is also part of the insightful Back to the Basics series. For that complete collection, all 18 powerful messages, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD or go online to lwf.org slash radio. Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Many of the messages in this series are also featured in our new resource called the What Every Christian Ought to Know Study.

Utilize this tool at lwf.org slash radio. Well, thanks for studying in God's Word with us today. Take time to prayerfully figure out where you are in your relationship with Christ. Do you have the markings of a spiritual man or woman? Live by the Spirit, learn and be liberated by it. And join us tomorrow for part two of The Roadmap to Maturity, right here on Love Worth Finding. Sometimes listeners write us and say things that are so encouraging, and I want to encourage you today with this.

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