Philippians: Pursuing Spiritual Maturity Review

PPM-3.jpg

Gregory Brown has a new study releasing today. This book from The Bible Teacher’s Guide is another great tool in the hand of anyone seeking to grow in their personal walk with Christ.

If you are looking for a book to cause you to look deeply within yourself and to help examine your heart so that you can begin 2016 in a right relationship with the Creator of the Universe through Jesus Christ His Son, so that you might be able to better know Him and His will for your life, then I would recommend this study.

Brown writes:

One can’t know what is best if he/she doesn’t know the Word of God. It is a necessary component of a mature Christian’s life. They are constantly abounding in the knowledge of the Word of God.

We never peak in understanding the Word of God. The Word of God is “simple enough that a child can understand it but deep enough that a scholar can drown in it.” A mature Christian is not stagnant in his knowledge of the Bible. He is always seeking to abound in it, seeking to understand it more, seeking to teach it more, and seeking to obey it more.

Just as we can never have enough love, we can never have enough knowledge of Scripture. This is a characteristic of mature Christians. As they know God’s Word better, they are better able to discern what is best in all areas of life (cf. 1 Cor 2:15).

This study guide is filled introspective questions. It is written like a commentary on the book of Philippians and it is filled with historical and biblical context. Brown takes you from Philippians 1:1 to Philippians 4:23 and helps you to truly soak in the heart of Paul and the heart of God and the charge that God was using Paul to deliver to those that belong to Him.

Another quote from Brown reads, “Charles Ellicott translated Paul words this way: “My body will be the theatre in which Christ’s glory is displayed.” 38 This is a challenge for us each day. The reality is that Christ’s worthiness and beauty is judged by our lives. We either demonstrate the glory and beauty of Christ or we demean him. The world judges Christ by his followers.
Paul said this about believers: “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We give off the smell of Christ. We magnify him by our lives. He also said to the Corinthians that they were a letter from Christ written for all to read (2 Corinthians 3:3).”

We live in a day here in America where the new mantra is “only God can judge me!” but the simple truth is that we are ALWAYS being judged by one another. Our children and our spouses and those we stand in front of in the grocery store line are watching us and experiencing us. Their experience with us will either cause them to glorify God or will cause them to doubt His very existence.

God created us to be open books for a world to read. Jesus saved us to be the light to the world. Whether we like it or not, we are the BIBLE that everyone that comes in contact with us will read. We are told to hide God’s Word in our heart because out of the heart the mouth speaks. Beloved, what does your everyday mouth testify about your heart?

If you are like me, and need to do some heart cleaning, then turn to the book of Philippians and download Gregory Brown’s study guide and let the water of the Word wash over you.

Here is a few of the chapter titles to give you an idea of how Brown will take you through the book of Philippians and help you ask yourself some pretty tough questions…

Signs of Healthy Church Members (Phil 1:18)

Marks of Spiritual Maturity (Phil 1:911)

Becoming a Mature Witness for Christ (Phil 1:1218)

How to Really Live for Christ (Phil 1:1926)

How to Live Worthy of the Gospel (Phil 1:2730)

How to Maintain Unity in the Church (Phil 2:14)

Unity through the Mind of Christ (Phil 2:511)

Work Out Your Salvation: The Process of Sanctification (Phil 2:1213)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Philippians 4:23