Many Christians prefer teachers who are impressive and will tell them what they want to hear. Like a child, they believe them, whether their message is right or wrong (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Like a small boat in a storm, he is in great danger. Beware, (know your Bible) some of those teachers are not serving Christ, but the devil (Acts 20:29-30; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). Many are being deceived now and seem to have fallen asleep. The Bible warns us to be on watch. Please wake up and know your Bible for yourself (2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 4:3).
Isaiah 45:11-48:11
Ephesians 4:1-16
Psalm 68:19-35
Proverbs 24:3-4
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Grow Up Into Christ
Have you ever watched a small boat that was not tied down when the wind started picking up? At first it may drift only a little. Then the current catches it. The wind changes direction. Before long, the boat is no longer where it started. It did not make a decision to go anywhere. It simply went wherever the forces around it pushed it.
Paul uses that kind of picture in Ephesians 4 when he warns believers not to remain like children, “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Ephesians 4:14). One teaching pulls them one way. Another voice pulls them another. A confident speaker, an emotional appeal, or a popular opinion can sound convincing, but Paul’s concern is that believers become grounded enough in the truth that they are not continually being carried away.
Paul begins the chapter by saying, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Ephesians 4:1). He then speaks of “lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). The calling of God is not meant to remain something we merely talk about. It is supposed to affect the way we walk.
Paul then gives the foundation of that unity: “There is one body, and one Spirit… One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:4-6). Biblical unity is not agreement to ignore truth. Paul roots unity in truths God has already revealed.
That matters because what we believe affects where we go. A compass that is only a few degrees off may not look dangerous when the journey begins, but after enough miles it can leave a traveler far from his intended destination. Paul says Christ gave gifts “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12). The goal is that believers mature rather than remain children carried about by every new teaching.
Paul says we are to be “speaking the truth in love” and to “grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). Then he finishes the thought by describing the whole body as “fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth,” making “increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).
That means Christian maturity is not merely about one person gaining knowledge. Paul is describing a body growing together under Christ its Head, with every part supplying what God has given it to supply.
The question is not simply whether we have been Christians for a long time. Paul’s concern is whether we are growing, becoming established in truth, and no longer being carried wherever the wind blows.
Who Is Carrying Whom?
Isaiah gives us a striking contrast between idols and the living God. Isaiah 46 describes men who lavish gold out of a bag, hire a goldsmith to make a god, then “bear him upon the shoulder” and carry him to his place (Isaiah 46:6-7). The idol has to be carried.
Then the Lord says, “And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you” (Isaiah 46:4).
That is the contrast Scripture gives us. The idol must be carried. The Lord carries His people.
Isaiah 45:5 states the claim plainly: “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.” Then verse 22 says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
The New Testament gives further light concerning salvation. Peter says of Jesus Christ, “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12), and Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Isaiah should first be allowed to say exactly what it says, and then the New Testament gives us the fuller revelation concerning salvation in Christ.
Isaiah also shows that God’s dealings with His people are not always comfortable. He says, “Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction” (Isaiah 48:10).
A furnace is not a place anyone would choose for comfort, but fire exposes what something is made of. Affliction can do the same thing. It can expose where our confidence really rests. Yet the God who says, “I will carry,” is also the God who says, “I have refined thee.”
Scripture does not present God as one more support among many. He says, “there is none else.”
Grace for Today
Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.”
That word “daily” is worth noticing. We have a habit of carrying tomorrow before tomorrow arrives. We imagine what might happen, rehearse problems that have not happened yet, and then wonder why today feels so heavy.
But the psalm speaks of God’s provision as daily.
“He that is our God is the God of salvation” (Psalm 68:20). Later the psalm says, “Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us” (Psalm 68:28), and it closes with, “The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God” (Psalm 68:35).
The strength is not presented as something God’s people manufacture for themselves. God gives it.
That changes the way we look at a difficult day. We do not have to pretend the burden is light. We look to the God who gives strength and power unto His people.
What Are You Building On?
Proverbs 24:3-4 says, “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.”
Nobody builds a sound house by throwing lumber into a pile and hoping it somehow becomes a home. A foundation has to be laid. Measurements matter. The pieces have to be placed where they belong.
Life works the same way.
Something can look impressive above ground while serious trouble is developing underneath. A beautiful house sitting on a bad foundation is still a house in danger.
Scripture says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). If wisdom builds the house, then the fear of the Lord is where that wisdom begins.
God’s wisdom is not simply something to admire. It is something to build with.
The question is not merely what we are building. It is what the whole thing is standing on.
Bringing It Together
These passages come together around stability, dependence, and growth.
Paul tells believers not to remain children carried about by every wind of doctrine, but to grow up into Christ. Isaiah contrasts gods that must be carried with the Lord who carries His people, while also showing that He refines His people through affliction. Psalm 68 reminds us that strength comes from God, and Proverbs reminds us that a life is established through wisdom.
Spiritual maturity does not mean we know everything. It means we are becoming more firmly established in what God has said. We are learning not to be moved simply because another voice is louder. We are learning not to trust what cannot save us. We are learning to receive strength from God instead of pretending we have enough of our own. And we are learning to build on wisdom rather than appearance.
A mature Christian is not someone who never faces strong winds. A mature Christian is someone who is learning where the anchor belongs.
Discussion question: What area of your life most needs to become more firmly anchored in what God has actually said?
Overview: Ephesians – Click Here
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