“Putting away
childish things”
By MiXue
1 Cor. 13:11
“When I was a child,
I used to speak like a child,
think like a child,
reason like a child;
when I became a man,
I put away childish things.”
What are childish ways?
1. Defying authority
2. Unhealthy eating habits
3. Insisting on present desires
4. Seeking own aspirations
1. Defying authority
Childish Defiance of Authority
 “It’s
all about me.”
 “No
one tells me what to do.”
 “I
am the boss of me.”
Who is in charge?
LORDSHIP:
Who is the Master?
Who is the slave?
1 Cor. 6:19-20
“Or do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit
who is in you, whom you have
from God, and that you are not
your own? For you have been
bought with a price: therefore
glorify God in your body.”
I am the servant
He is the Master
“Do you not know that when you present
yourselves to someone as slaves for
obedience, you are slaves of the one
whom you obey, either of sin resulting in
death, or of obedience resulting in
righteousness?
But thanks be to God that though you were
slaves of sin, you became obedient from
the heart to that form of teaching to which
you were committed, and having been
freed from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness.”
Rom 6:16-18
What does God’s servant do?
"If anyone serves Me,
he must follow Me;
and where I am,
there My servant will be also;
if anyone serves Me,
the Father will honor him.”
John 12:26
How do I become God’s servant?
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates
his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.”
John 12:24-25
NEED: Die to my agenda, sin & will
to live for Him & His will
The Role of a Servant:
“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who are
enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the
hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes
look to the LORD our God,
until He is gracious to us.”
Ps 123:1-2
The Lordship
of Christ
OPENS
the door
to growth
Put away childish defiance
God does not exist for me.
I exist for God.
2. Unhealthy Eating Habits
Childish Eating Habits:
“Don’t tell me what I can or cannot eat!”
“I will eat whatever I please.”
“I will eat whenever I please.”
What is good food?
But Jesus answered and said,
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live
on bread alone, but on every
word that proceeds out of the
mouth of God.’”
Matt 4:4
How does it benefit me?
“All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good work.”
2 Tim 3:16-17
1 Pt 2:2
“like newborn babies,
long for the pure milk of the word,
so that by it you may
grow in respect to salvation”
“Long for the pure milk of the Word”
Nourished by Word
Intake:
Quiet Time
Bible Study
Meditation
Memorization
In-depth Study
Teach
But don’t stay on an infant’s diet
RX for healthy diet:
For though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you have need again for someone
to teach you the elementary principles of the
oracles of God, and you have come to need
milk and not solid food.
For everyone who partakes only of milk is not
accustomed to the word of righteousness,
for he is an infant.
Heb 5:12-13
NEED: Eat solid food
What is Solid Food?
“But solid food is for the mature, who
because of practice have their senses
trained to discern good and evil. “
Heb 5:14
“Practice” = Obedience
Obedience ≠ Agreement
Practice: Hear & Act
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and
acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built
his house on the rock.
"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew
and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall,
for it had been founded on the rock.
"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act
on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on
the sand.
"The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and
slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was
its fall.“
Matt 7:24-27
The Law of Increase
"So take care how you listen;
for whoever has,
to him more shall be given;
and whoever does not have,
even what he thinks he has
shall be taken away from him."
Luke 8:18
It takes FAITH to eat.
"If anyone is willing to do His will,
he will know of the teaching,
whether it is of God
or whether I speak from Myself.”
John 7:17
Fleshing out Faith
“for it is not the
hearers of the
Law who are
just
before God,
but the doers
of the Law
will be
justified.”
Rom 3:13
Obedience makes your
FAITH
Robust
Put away childish diet
 Eat
nutritious food: Word
 Exercise:
Obey Word
3. Insisting on present desires
“I won’t take
‘No’
for an answer!”
“I want it
or
else!”
Childish inability to delay
gratification:
Self-centered focus:
 Focused on immediate temporal desires
 Trust in own self to know best
No future perspective:
 No future goals or vision (eternal)
 No trust in other greater than self (God)
Need for Greater Perspective
Eternal Perspective
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of
witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside
every encumbrance and the sin which so easily
entangles us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us,
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter
of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and has sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Heb 12:12
Trusting God when He seems
indifferent or absent
“The LORD'S eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.”
Ps 11:4
“a weaned child”
“O LORD, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes
haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great
matters, Or in things too difficult for me.
Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like
a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul
is like a weaned child within me.”
Psa 131:1-3
“eating solid food”
Delayed gratification makes
HOPE
grow
HOPE reveals treasure
Trials
FAITH  Perseverance
Perseverance  Proven character
Proven character  HOPE
Rom 5:3-5
NEED: Eye the goal
“Well done,
good and
faithful
servant.”
“I have fought the good fight, I have
finished the course, I have kept the
faith;
in the future there is laid up for me the
crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will award
to me on that day; and not only to me,
but also to all who have loved His
appearing.”
2 Tim 4:7-8
Why is having
an Eternal Perspective
ESSENTIAL
for Christian growth?
Invest in Eternal Treasure
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal.
"But store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust
destroys, and where thieves do not break
in or steal; for where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.
Matt 6:19-21
Sacrifice:
Giving up something you love
for something you love
MORE
Jim Elliot, 1927-1956
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot
keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
"And they overcame him because
of the blood of the Lamb and
because of the word of their
testimony,
and they did not love their life
even when faced with death.”
Rev 12:11
Put away childish fixation on the
present
Develop Eternal HOPE:

Exchange Temporal Treasures for
Eternal Treasures

Seek Eternal Rewards
4. Seeking own aspirations
Childish aspirations
Seeking significance in temporal:
Possessions
People’s approval
Power
Proficiency
Performance
Purpose
What is my purpose?
To give my life for
what
the Son of God
gave His life for.
“Just as the Son of Man
did not come to be served,
but to serve,
and to give His life
a ransom for many.”
Matt 20:28
Jesus’ last command:
And Jesus came up and spoke to them,
saying, "All authority has been given to Me
in heaven and on earth.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I
commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age."
Matt 28:18-20
“Go and Make disciples”
 Baptizing
them: Evangelism
 Teaching
them: Discipleship
Evangelism: Introducing others
to the Savior
Evangelism is a Bridge
to God’s
LOVE
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall
not perish, but have eternal life.” Jn 3:16
How can I present the Gospel?
The
Illustration
In the beginning God created
man to have fellowship with Him
Man
GOD
But man’s disobedience breaks
that relationship with God
Man
GOD
Sin separates us from God and
brings death and judgment
Man
SIN
Death
Judgment
GOD
None of man’s own efforts can
reconnect him to God
money -----morality --------Philosophies ---good behavior ---good works -----
Man
SIN
Death
Judgment
GOD
J
Man
E
SI N
U
S
Death
Judgment
GOD
Resurrection
J
Man
E
S
U
S
GOD
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word,
and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life,
and does not come into judgment,
but has passed out of death into life.”
J
Man
E
S
U
S

GOD
Evangelism: Midwifery
 Live

the Life
Be ready to give a defense
to all who ask
 Build
bridges to unsaved
Evangelism is being a Bridge
Discipleship: Teaching others
to observe Jesus’ commandments
LOVE
God and neighbor
How can I love God?
"He who has My commandments
and keeps them is the one who
loves Me;
and he who loves Me will be loved
by My Father, and I will love him
and will disclose Myself to him."
John 14:21
How can I love others?
"Greater love has no one than this,
that one lay down his life
for his friends.
John 15:13
Discipleship: Nurturing others
“But we proved to be gentle among
you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares
for her own children.
Having so fond an affection for you,
we were well-pleased to impart to you
not only the gospel of God but also
our own lives, because you had
become very dear to us.”
1 Th 2:7-8
'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline;
therefore be zealous and repent. Rev. 3:19
and you have forgotten the exhortation
which is addressed to you as sons, "MY
SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE
DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT
WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES
HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES
EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."
Mentoring
“The things which you have heard
from me in the presence of many
witnesses,
entrust these to faithful men
who will be able
to teach others also.”
2 Tim 2:22
What is the Ministry?
NEED: Enter the Family Business
Investing in others for eternity
"And I say to you, make friends for
yourselves by means of the wealth of
unrighteousness, so that when it fails,
they will receive you
into the eternal dwellings.”
Luke 16:9
Adding weight
"The harvest is plentiful,
but the workers are few.”
“weak woman”
“For among them are those who
enter into households and
captivate weak women weighed
down with sins, led on by various
impulses, always learning and
never able to come to the
knowledge of the truth.”
2 Tim 3:6-7
Being grown up means:

Joining the Family Business (“Bidness”)

Exchanging temporal for eternal treasures

Learning Word and Practicing Obedience

Respecting and cooperating with Authority
“When I was a child, I used to speak
like a child, think like a child, reason
like a child; when
I became a man,
I put away with
childish things.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face
to face; now I know in part, but then I will know
fully just as I also have been fully known.
But now FAITH, HOPE, LOVE,
abide these three;
but the greatest of these
is LOVE.”
1 Cor 13:11-13
The Roots of FAITH
The shoots of HOPE
The fruits of LOVE
Put away
childish
things
Grow like a
tree firmly
planted by
streams of
water, yielding
its fruit in
season, and its
leaf does not
wither. In whatever she does,
she prospers.
“Putting away
childish things”
By MiXue