Biblical Characteristics of Spiritual People

BIBLICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SPIRITUAL PEOPLE
DR. JIM DIXON
APRIL 7, 2002
1 PETER 1:23-2:2

Peter Carl Fabergé died in the year 1920, and it was Fabergé who created the famous Fabergé eggs, Imperial Easter eggs given to the Royal House in Russia. And 12 days from today, on April 19th, the most valuable of all the Fabergé eggs is going to be auctioned off at Christie’s in New York. This Fabergé egg is called the winter egg. It is made of crystal. It is inlaid with 3,000 diamonds, and inside of this the Fabergé egg there is a jeweled basket of flowers made of precious stones. This Fabergé egg, the winter egg, sold in 1994 for $5.6 million and it’s expected to fetch more money on April 19th. It was given as a gift, an Easter gift, to the mother of Czar Nicholas II. It was given to her on Easter Sunday in the year 1913.

And I think it is true that we tend to associate Easter with eggs. We associate Easter with Easter baskets laden with eggs—jellybean eggs, chocolate eggs, and hard boiled eggs of varying colors. And perhaps the very rich associate Easter with Fabergé eggs. But we all know that Easter has little to do with eggs. And as we’re gathered here one week after Easter, we know that an egg, even as a symbol of new birth, is really an inadequate expression of the true meaning of Easter. We live in a strange world. We live in a world where the true meaning of Easter for many people has been replaced with family gatherings, ham dinners, and Easter egg hunts. We live in a world where many people are more concerned with the physical than they are with the spiritual. We live in a world where many people are more concerned with the temporal than they are with the eternal, a world where people are more concerned with the body than they are with the soul.

And yet Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” So this morning I would ask you, how’s it going with your soul? And are you more concerned with the physical than you are with a spiritual? Are you more concerned with the temporal than you are with the eternal? Are you more concerned with your body than you are with your soul? This morning, we look at what it means biblically to be a spiritual person. Biblically there are three characteristics.

First of all, a spiritual person is a person who has been born anew. A spiritual person, biblically speaking, is a person who has experienced regeneration and rebirth. In our passage of scripture for today, the Apostle Peter says, “You have been born anew, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable seed through, the living and abiding Word of God.” The word for born anew there is “anagegennemenoi,” very similar to “gennethe anothen,” which is found in the Gospel of John chapter three, where Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. He was one of the ruling Jews and he was viewed by his peers as very spiritual. And yet Jesus did not view him as a spiritual person at all.

When Nicodemus came up to Jesus and he said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one could do the mighty things that you do unless God be with him,” and Jesus didn’t even respond to that compliment. He simply said to Nicodemus, “Truly I say to you, unless a person is born again, they cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” Nicodemus was incredulous. He said, “Can a man enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again.” And Jesus makes it very clear what it means to be born again. The Bible makes it very clear what it means to be born again.

We are born again when we believe in Christ. That’s when our spiritual journey begins. We are born again when we receive Christ as Savior and Lord; when we make a commitment to trust His shed blood for our forgiveness of sins; when we make a commitment to follow Him, receiving Him as Savior and Lord. In that moment we make that commitment, the Bible says we’re born again—anagegennemenoi, born anew, regenerated—and we began to be a spiritual person. We enter the family of God and we are born as children of God, sons and daughters of God.

Now, sometimes people have come up to me (they have this past week and also in prior years) and they’ve asked me this question: why do we celebrate Easter at Fiddler’s Green? They said, you know, why can’t we just have our Easter services right here at Cherry Hills Community Church where the acoustics are better and it’s more worshipful? And generally speaking, the weather is better in here. And I agree with all of that and people say, so why do we have Easter celebrations at Fiddler’s Green? Are we seeking media exposure? And the answer’s no. We’re not seeking media exposure. And in fact, we receive very little media exposure. The media is always going to be more focused on the Red Rocks Sunrise Service because it’s sponsored by the Colorado Council of Churches. Our service at Fiddler’s is sponsored by an individual local church and they’re not going to be primarily concerned with that. And we’re not concerned that we have media exposure. That’s not our great concern. Some people say, well, do we do it at Fiddler’s because Jim just wants to preach one time as opposed to three or four times? And I promise you that doesn’t have anything to do with this.

We have our service at Fiddler’s Green each Easter because we’re seeking to reach unreached people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we have an opportunity to reach more people there. We receive 13,000 to 14,000 people at Fiddler’s Green. That’s 5,000 more people than we would be able to share the gospel with if we had our services here—5,000 more people, and we get to tell them about Jesus Christ in hopes that they’ll be born again, that they might experience regeneration and rebirth. And you know, every year we need you to be praying because I can’t lead a single person to Christ. I don’t have that power. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Every year we need you to be praying that God will be working at Fiddler’s Green and that people will receive Christ and be born anew there.

You know, just after the first service, a young man came up to me and he said, I just want you to know that six years ago at Fiddler’s Green, I asked Jesus into my heart. Oh, do I love to hear that. That’s why we do it. That’s why we do it. So, who is a spiritual person, biblically? First of all, a spiritual person is someone who has been born anew, anagegennemenoi. Well secondly, a spiritual person is a person who is seeking above all else to be like Christ. That’s what the Bible tells us. If you’re truly spiritual, your primary goal in life is Christlikeness. You want to be like Jesus.

You know, in Ephesians chapter four, the Apostle Paul writes, “His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of Christ.” And Paul goes on to say, “Until we attain to the unity of Spirit and the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to mature in Christ so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro and cast about by every wind of doctrine, but rather speaking the truth and love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head.” We’re to grow up into Christ. What a beautiful passage of scripture. What’s the goal of the spiritual person? To grow up into Him who is the head. To grow up into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

In Philippians chapter three, the Apostle Paul writes, “I press on towards the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, that I might be like Him.” Paul says that all who are mature should be thus minded, that we would all seek to be like Christ—that we would all seek Christlikeness supremely.

So, what about you? Have you been born anew? Are you a daughter of God? Are you a son of God? Have you entered the family of God? Have you received Christ as Savior and Lord? Are you seeking to be like Jesus? Is that the primary purpose of each day? Is that what life is all about for you? Do you want to be like Jesus Christ or are you really seeking other things?

Now, I love the story of the missionary who went to Africa. He wanted to share Christ with a people group and he learned their language and dialect and he was kind of a god and country guy. So, the gospel message kind of got mixed up with American culture and it was almost like he was trying to create Americans rather than Christians. And he stood in front of this African tribe and he said, America is the greatest country on earth. And the crowd, the tribe shouted “Hua!” And he went on. He said, in America, all the people have learned to love one another. And the tribal people said, “Hua!” He went on. He said, in America, we all live by the golden rule, and we treat other people the way we would want them to treat us. That’s how life is in America. And we want you to be like Americans. And the people said, “Hua!” Well, he didn’t know what the word meant, hua. He learned the language, but there were many words he didn’t know, and that was one of them.

He was kind of bothered by that, but he didn’t say anything. And afterwards he was walking with the tribal chief, and they walked outside of the village and they were walking down a dirt road and off in a meadow he saw some cattle. They didn’t look like any cattle that he’d seen in the United States. And he said to the chief, I’d like to go over or walk across the field and take a closer look at those cattle. The chief said, well, that’ll be all right. But he said, be careful. Watch where you step. Watch where you put your feet because the hua is everywhere.

And isn’t that true? I mean, has that thought ever occurred to you? The hua is everywhere. Doesn’t it sometimes seem like that? And there’s this passage in the Bible in Philippians chapter three, which we already mentioned, where Paul said he presses on towards the goal of Christlikeness that he might be like Christ. And he challenges all of us to think in the same way. And in that same passage, Paul says that he regards every other goal, every other purpose in living, every other attainment in life, as “skybala.” And most of your Bibles translate that as “garbage,” or perhaps as “refuse.” But those are secondary meanings for this Greek word. The primary meaning of skybala is hua. That’s what it means. And so, do you realize what the Bible is saying to us? If you’re striving primarily after anything but Christ, it’s hua.

That’s what the Bible says. That’s the clear teaching of holy scripture. If your primary goal in life is anything but Jesus’s, it’s hua, because nothing else was meant to be your primary goal. And so, if your primary goal is, you know, career accomplishment and career success climbing the corporate ladder, that’s hua. If your primary goal is wealth and your primary goal is a large bank account, hua. If your primary goal is health and you’re just focused on your body rather than your soul, hua. Even if your primary purpose in living is family, your primary purpose is a wife and kids or a husband and kids, as wonderful as that is, it was never meant to be your primary purpose. And if you hold it as primary, it’s hua. If you’re a spiritual person, you’ll seek first to be like Jesus and everything else will fall into place.

So who are spiritual people biblically? First of all, they’ve been born again. Secondly, their goal is to be like Jesus. But there’s one more thing the Bible tells us about a spiritual person. And this is so important. And this third teaching really is based on the first two. You see, the third teaching is this: a spiritual person, biblically, is a person who is growing. You’ve been born anew. Your goal is to be like Jesus, but you’re not there yet. So, if you’re a spiritual person, you are growing. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter three, verse 18, “We all with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed from one degree of glory to another.” You see, as we seek to be like Him, we are transformed. We’re in a process of growth. Now, if you’re a spiritual person and you’re in a process of growth, it requires three simple things.

First of all, it requires what we might call soul food. You need food for your soul. If you’re gonna grow, if you’re gonna become like Christ, if you’re not going to remain a baby in Christ, you need food for your soul. You remember the passage in the Bible where Jesus fed the 5,000 in the region of Galilee and it was a miracle. He fed 5,000 people with one boy’s lunch. He multiplied the fish and He multiplied the bread and He gave them all a feast. Perhaps you didn’t know that after that miraculous feeding the crowds followed him. That’s what the Bible tells us. The crowds followed Jesus everywhere and He was angry with them. And why would He be angry with them? I mean, didn’t He say, “Follow Me”? Why should He be angry with these crowds following Him? He is angry with them because they were only wanting physical food, food for their bodies.

They thought Him to be a miracle baker. They liked the meal. They were looking for more meals like that. And so they followed Him. Jesus said, “You don’t care about food for your souls. You seek the food that perishes. You don’t want the food that serves eternal life. You don’t want food for your souls.” So how about you? Do you long for food for your souls?

I know many of you have been down to Houston, Texas, and it’s a great city, the fourth largest city in the United States of America. It is named after Sam Houston, who’s a legend in Texas. Sam Houston led the fight for independence when Texas won its independence from Mexico. Sam Houston was the president of the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston also was the one who led Texas into the union that Texas might become a state in the United States, and he became a United States senator.

Sam Houston became the governor of the state of Texas, and he was serving as governor when the Civil War broke out. There was a little-known story about his son, Sam Houston Jr. Sam Houston Jr. fought in the Civil War and he came close to dying. He was shot in the back, but the bullet never entered his body. He was shot in the back and the bullet went into his backpack and he had one thing in that backpack: his grandmother’s Bible. And as the story goes, this bullet caught within the Bible of Houston’s grandmother. It just caught up in the Bible—never penetrated the Bible—and the life of Sam Houston Jr. was saved. Now, according to the stories (and I’ve read it in a number of places from a number of sources), the bullet stopped right at Psalms 70.

I mean, that’s where the bullet stopped, right at Psalm 70. And when Sam Houston Jr. opened the Bible up, the edge of the bullet came right to Psalm 70, verse 50: “The Lord is my help and my deliverer.” Now you know, when you hear a story like that, how do you feel? I mean, I hear stories like that all the time. I’ve read many stories like that, with Bibles stopping bullets. And I really don’t have a problem believing it. It’s not that I have a problem believing it. I believe that Sam Houston’s Bible stopped that bullet. But you see, that’s not what Bibles are all about. They’re not bullet stoppers.

That’s not why you should have a Bible. That’s not why you should carry a Bible. This isn’t some kind of talisman. You see, this is soul food. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We need food for our souls. And are you feasting every day? I mean, every day do you find a place at work, a quiet place, or a place at home? Maybe you go into your study, maybe your bedroom, maybe down into the basement, maybe out on the patio. Maybe you get a cup of coffee. But do you get your Bible and do you go to a place where you can just sit down and have food for your soul and partake of the word of God? Do you read the Bible and pray? Do you commune with Christ every day? This is the mark of a spiritual person.

A spiritual person is growing and you can’t grow without food for your soul. And so we invite you to be in the word every day. In our passage of scripture for today, Peter says, “Like newborn babies, long for the true spiritual milk that you might grow up.” Well, the word spiritual, there is the Greek word “logikon,” which comes from the Greek word “logos,” which means “word” and was often used with regard to the Bible. Many Bible scholars think that Peter’s clearly saying, “Feed on the Bible.” And of course, there are countless passages in the scriptures where we’re told that all scripture is inspired of God is profitable for teaching reproof, for correction, for training and righteousness, that the person of God might be complete, equipped for every good work.

So, you need soul food. And if you’re going to grow, you also need soul training. You know, many of you have probably heard of Bernard Baruch. Bernard Baruch was a US financier, and he was a presidential advisor to many presidents. But I think Bernard Baruch is most famous for the following statement. He died in 1965 at the age of 95. And when he was asked the key to his longevity, he said this: “I get my exercise being pall-bearer for people who exercised.”

Do you remember that quote? Many people have quoted that statement from Bernard Baruch. And of course, there are many people who live by that statement and they never exercised. I mean, I saw in the paper just this morning that seven out of 10 Americans do not exercise. And you might get away with it. Some people do. Winston Churchill got away with it. He did everything wrong, and he died at the age of 91. He ate too much and he drank too much. He smoked cigars all the time. But you see, he was a genetic fluke. I mean, on the physical level, there are some people whose physical genetics are such that they can do almost anything and get away with it. They’re rare; they’re the exception. But you see, on the spiritual level, that’s not possible for anybody. Nobody can fail to exercise their soul and get away with it. Nobody can get away with it. You’re not going to grow unless you exercise your soul. Paul said, “Train yourselves in godliness. Bodily exercise is of some value, but training in godliness holds value in every respect as it holds promised not only for this life, but also for the life to come.” Soul training.

You get soul training as you enter into ministry. You exercise your soul as you enter into service and ministry. See, it’s not enough to feed your soul and just bask in the Word and in prayer each day. You must also exercise your soul. And that means you’ve got to enter into service and ministry. I was sharing yesterday with our discovery class and I was telling them how we have 2,800 people in our church who are involved in some regular ministry. We have 450 men and women who work with our Sunday school, over 300 small group leaders, and 250 men and women in the choir. That’s a thousand people right there. We have hundreds of people who go into the inner city and they go as tutors working with one of our five inner city churches, tutoring kids through Whiz Kids or Save Our Youth.

And of course, we have people who minister and serve in virtually every department of the church, from the missions department to the youth program. And we have people who serve as deacons and elders and people who serve in the parking lots. We thank God for everyone who is active, everyone who is serving. It takes people to make a church, great people willing to exercise their soul. And we invited the discovery class yesterday (as we invite you today) to be involved in soul training—to involve yourself in spiritual ministry. As you leave today, you’re going to see a table for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They seek to minister to kids—boys and girls—in high schools throughout the Denver area and all across the United States. And they form huddle groups—Bible studies—and they meet in school campuses after school and they need volunteers. And they’re forming adult huddles to help these kids.

You can go up to that table and perhaps God will prompt you to be part of that. But we’re always inviting you to be involved in soul training. So, if we would be growing, if we’re spiritual people and we’re growing, we have soul food and we have soul training. And finally, we have soul mates. You can’t grow without soul mates. I need soul mates. You need soul mates. We need each other. I need you. You all need each other. We need each other in order to grow in the Bible. There are many words that communicate this concept of soul mates. There’s the word “koinonia,” and many Greek words—the word “sunergos”, the word “metochos.” There are so many Greek words that communicate the concept of soul mate or partner or spiritual friend. There are so many of these words because it’s so important.

We can’t grow unless we have friends who encourage us in Christ; unless we have friends who are praying for us; friends who will exhort us and at times even rebuke us; friends with whom we can be vulnerable; friends to whom we can confess our sin, that they might pray for us and hold us accountable so we can grow as we make ourselves vulnerable. You know, some friends of mine this past week sent me an article here at the church, and I read the article and the article’s about lobsters and how they grow, and that apart from vulnerability—apart from making themselves vulnerable—lobsters could not grow. Well, I read the article and I thought, you know, can this be true? I mean, is this really true that lobsters only grow through vulnerability? So I looked it up in some of my science books to see what oceanographers and marine biologists would say.

And sure enough, it’s true. Apart from vulnerability, lobsters can’t grow. I mean, there comes a point where a lobster has to shed its shell. They molt and the shell doesn’t grow. And so, when they’re growing inside the shell, they begin to be cramped and they have to discard the shell. So they secrete a chemical that softens the shell, they break it open, and just step out. But when they step out, they’re vulnerable. As part of growing, they have to make themselves vulnerable and they have a soft pink membrane that will grow a new shell. But that takes time. So, there’s this period of time when they’re vulnerable and they can be eaten. It sounds scary to be a lobster. And according to the books I read, this molting takes place three to four times just within the first few months, and they have to make themselves vulnerable again and again and again.

And you know, that is a reminder of what it’s like for us as Christians. You can’t grow unless you’re willing to be vulnerable. And if you have soulmates you can be vulnerable with and you can kind of shed your shell and you can confess your sin and you can be open and laid bare that they might pray for you and that they might hold you accountable, that is growth through vulnerability. You see, when you look at that little passage in 1 John, it tells us that spiritual people are people who’ve come into the light. This doesn’t mean they’re without sin. It means they don’t hide their sin. Spiritual people are people who have entered into the fellowship of the light and they’ve confessed their sin to their soulmates. It’s an amazing passage. John says, “This is the message we’ve heard from the beginning. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Nothing is hidden. If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not live according to the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, who are the spiritual people? They’ve been born again, children of God, and their goal is to be like Jesus. That’s their supreme goal if they’re truly spiritual. And then finally they’re growing. They’re growing through soul food as they’re in the Word and in prayer every day; through soul training, as they’ve entered into ministry and service; and through soulmates who encourage them and hold them accountable as they make themselves vulnerable. Those are spiritual people. It’s what Christ wants us to become. So we come to the communion table, and as we come to the communion table, let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer