Maturing in Christ Part 1

by Pastor Mark Downey

This is an old message that has been slightly modified.  We are now in Kentucky and no longer in Washington state.  Bush is not the President anymore and we’ve got a negro in the White House.  But, ironically the status quo remains geared to Babylon.  Over the years, I’ve received quite a bit of hate mail from judeo-Christians who started reading this message, thinking it was the usual warm and fuzzy pabulum that sheeple expect, only to be informed of the gospel of racism.  The hatred they spew forth, paradoxically, exceeds anything I have to say.  And thus, we have a perfect illustration contrasting juvenile hypocrisy with Christian maturity.

As we deal with things in life, we learn to use the Word of God as our standard of measure.  I Thes. 5:21 says "prove all things, hold fast to the good." I chose this subject because it's clear that God's will for us is to grow up in spiritual maturity; to become like Jesus. "For those whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son" (Romans 8:29). He wants us to develop the character of Christ. The big question then, is how do we become mature in Christ? The answer is that we read, believe and obey. It's the application of the Word: become doers of the Word; don't just hear it and deceive yourself (James 1:22). Don't call yourself a Christian and then not practice Christianity.

There are different levels of spiritual consumption that bless the continuation of our life journey. The Bible makes the analogy of milk and solid food to the believer (Heb. 5:12); a baby Christian just swallows the easy to understand scriptures, while the full grown adult chews and studies the Word and digests the meat of prophecy and the dynamics of doctrine. Babies gag on T-bone steaks and adults need more than just milk, lest they stagnate.

Every decade seems to deteriorate in the supply of good Bible teachers; some teachers who are in need of being taught again the elementary principles of the oracles of God. "We are not meant to remain as children spiritually, carried about with every wind of teaching by the deceitful trickery of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but . . . speaking the truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things" (Eph. 4:14-15). Nor are we to be poisoned by those who don’t know who’s who i.e. those who say they are Israelite and are not, but are of the synagogue of satan.  Or even the unfounded proclamation that Cherokees are Israelites, begins the slippery slope of grafting false tribes to our family tree. 

Several years ago, back in Washington state, some of our church members were compelled to deliver imprecatory prayer against the satanic frog-faced anvil-headed devil Benny Hinn. We had signs and handed out leaflets.  We were joined by another church group from Oregon whom we had never met, who were there for the same purpose.  So there were two witnesses establishing the matter of Benny Hinn being a charlatan and a fraud.   Some of Hinn’s followers would read the leaflet and angrily turn around and chastise us saying, “Don’t you know Benny is God’s anointed?”  When I saw that half of the crowd was colored and the other half were White zombies, I knew that swarthy con man could only be anointed by people who are brain-dead.   They were hardly the type of Christian, which the Bible would call mature. 

Paul says in II Cor. 13:9, "Our greatest wish and prayer is that you will become mature Christians." Because He gave some people pastors and teachers proclaiming the good news for the perfecting (or maturing) of the saints (Christian supremacists) for the building up of the church until we all come to the unity of faith, and a unity of knowledge of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; so that we're no longer immature and vulnerable to falsehood.   I remember watching the late Dr. D. James Kennedy and almost falling out of my chair when he said, “Is Christianity superior to other religions?  Yes, we are Christian supremacists.”  Wow!  The power of that statement is seldom heard in Christendom today, because the ministers don’t want to hurt anybodies feelings.  Did Jesus ever offend anybody?  The old saying is true… sometimes the truth hurts.  How we reconcile the awful truths about ourselves (we are sinners) is a measurement of how advanced our spiritual development is; how mature in Christ we are.  

This is not talking about our literal age, as Christ warned not to offend the innocent faith of the little ones.  Young children are often less corrupted from the world than those advanced in years having more experience with hypocrisy.  Christ was only 33 when He attained the crown of perfection, which then is not an unreasonable expectation for any Israelite to come to the knowledge of the Son of God. This is a problem in Identity, where older family members don't think the young whippersnappers can tell them anything about the Bible. They have a maturity problem.  My own parents still don’t get it.  They can’t even spit out the words ‘Christian Identity’, as if it’s some kind curse, ready to fall on their heads like a ton of bricks, and just say Mark’s beliefs; and they don’t really want to know what I believe, because they’ve heard it’s some kind of racist cult tied into domestic terrorism.  Where do they get that?  They get it from the antichrist ADL and the super-rich Southern Poverty Law Center.  Why would grown-ups believe those who hate them, rather than their own son who loves them?

God can use vessels of honor at any age to communicate His will. The last thing the Old Testament ends on is the symbiotic thought that the hearts of the fathers turn to the children and the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6). When Jesus was 12, He astonished the doctors in the temple and they were amazed at His understanding. Jesus "Increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). I'm not saying to hang on the word of every precocious child, but if you discern someone who has been trained in the ways of the Lord and the way he should go, the Bible says "When he is old, he will not depart from that training". The maturity is progressive.

Hebrews 13:2 reminds us not to forget hospitality, because you might be entertaining angels unawares; somebody who has a message for you from God. I want to dispel some common misconceptions about spiritual growth. Maturity in Christ is not automatic with the passing of time or the judeo assumptions of 'being saved' or being 'born again'. A buzzword or two does not cut the character of a Christian.  Millions of Christians have grown older without ever growing up. The truth is, a person must have the desire to grow and decide to make an intentional effort. Becoming like Christ is the result of the commitments we make. Many are called, but don’t respond to their calling.  Was the intent of, “My people, who are called by My name” referring to White Christians?  If my parents could acknowledge that one little concept, they could grow in Christ by leaps and bounds.  You cannot grow if you do not hear.  The Good Shepherd said, “My sheep hear My voice.”  Did you know the Hebrew word for ‘hear’ is the same word for ‘obey’? 

When there is no objective to mature in Christ, any progress made as a Christian will be circumstantial, rather than intentional. Spiritual growth is too important to be left to circumstance. True Christianity is not being reactionary to events as they happen, otherwise, we would be forever in a defensive mode. Lord knows the world is in a constant state of change, but regardless of what condition temporal things may be, we are told in Romans 6:13 "To yield (or give) yourselves completely to God."   Why?  So that we are a weapon in the hands of God.  “Thou art My battle ax and weapons of war; for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms” (Jer. 51:20).  I can hear the nansy pansy Christians saying, “I don’t want to be an ax.”  Our enemies know that our spiritual maturity is a potential weapon of mass destruction.  All these foreign countries that worship Benny Hinn in packed stadiums with tens of thousands could be smashed with the White Christian honoring their divine call and going into an attack mode.  But the sheep have been conditioned to be infantile pacifists, while wolves take the Kingdom through violence.  For God’s sake we have the promises!  “Five of you shall chase a hundred and one hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight” Lev. 26:8.  A good offense is maturing in Christ. 

We become what we are committed to. Maturity is having a vision. A vision is a plan with a purpose. Can you see it?  We do not mature in Christ through the mystical osmosis of watching religious television programs, building grandiose opulent mega-churches, pious entertainment, believing every word that proceeds from the mouths of holier-than-thou preachers etc. 

Any White person can mature spiritually if they develop practical action steps and everyday habits. We are creatures of habit. Can you see the potential of daily Bible reading, for example? If you discipline yourself to do this for 20 years, do you think you are more of a disciple of Christ than if you hadn't? Of course you would. Christian character cannot be obtained overnight. It's a slow process that takes time. It's a journey that will last a lifetime. Reading a map can be made easier if you have the right directions. We arrive, as Eph. 4:15 puts it, "Unto the measure of the stature (or development) of the fullness of Christ (i.e. our maturity in Christ)." God has provided us with a wonderful means of direction through leaders who lead. Anarchy is the antithesis to the leadership of the Way, the Life and the Truth. The word pastor means to lead and to feed. Some critics object to me calling myself a pastor, having an illusionary concept that a pastor must wear some kind of Catholic costume and speak with a nauseating effeminate voice.  To which I would reply, “That’s fine, you can just call me a feeder… Feeder Downey.”  The purpose of a pastor-leader is to provide a palatable food for the developing Christian soldier’s growth so that they also may serve the needs of a growing Christian army.  “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another” Romans 12:10.  Having a preference for one’s own kind might be construed to be racist, but racism itself is the mandated maturation that separates us from inferior cultures that spiritually starves their own kind.   

A pastor or feeder-leader, if he is a man of God, is given, by God, the gift of discernment, to try (or test) the spirits (I John 4:1); the ability to tell if a person is separated from evil and is dedicated to God. A congregation should resonate this gift in unity, in order to mature as a body of Christ. Whenever that which is contrary to the Word of God is introduced into the church; when the Achens bring their alien wedge of gold, they bring sin into the camp of Israel and the growth immediately stops until it is removed. Benny Hinn's numbers may be increasing, but it is only growing in strong delusion: "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Continue (grow, mature) in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them" (II Tim 3:13). We don't want to grow in curses, we want blessings. But, it can go either way, depending on what we are committed to.

Many churches evaluate their maturity in Christ by how well they can name people in the Bible or quote scriptures chapter and verse, or debate doctrine as proof of the measure of their growth. Christian life, however, isn't predicated on memorization or oratory, although these are worthy requisites. More importantly, our spiritual condition is shaped incrementally more by behavior than by beliefs. Beliefs must be backed up with our deeds. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). Who is wise and knowledgeable among you? "Let him show out of the good behavior his works in meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13, Young’s Literal Translation). "For ye were sometimes darkness (you had an attitude to ignore God and not be committed to anything), but now ye are full of light from the Lord, therefore walk as children of light" (Eph. 5:8). In other words, if you're going to be a real Christian, your behavior should show it. Jesus said it best of all, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Mt. 7:16).

I've know men who had wonderful head knowledge of the Bible, who were the most arrogant and obnoxious people to be around. Their spiritual maturity was at a low ebb and it impacted the body of Christ. We mentioned milk and strong meat earlier, and this is symbolic of the different levels of God's Word which we consume. Christ rebukes the Pharisees in Matthew 15:11, explaining to His disciples, "It's not the things entering your mouth that defiles a man, it's the things coming out of the mouth", and in verse 8 "They draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me." People can receive divine revelation by reading the Bible, but what they do with it, perverting the commandments of God or preserving the integrity of God's commands reflects on the type of fruit they are producing.  There’s more to the Word than John 3:16. 

The Bible is a supernatural instrument of righteousness when we rightly divide what it means. We can witness the failures of those who have not done God's will. We know what God's Word says, but if we don't put into practice what we know, we foolishly 'build a house on sand'. Let us build the foundation of our faith upon the solid rock of Jesus Christ by hearing what He has to say, and doing according to His instructions. We begin our journey with the simple milk of understanding and grow into the mature and sound doctrines of our Kinsman Redeemer, which we not only learn from, but also love and live for.