Grow In Spirit Series

Today is the last sermon in our series

It's titled CHRISTIANS OUGHT

To Have Spiritual Growth

We previously discussed

How Christians were to

SURRENDER TO GOD

and then

FREE FROM SIN

was our next Objective

And now we are going to look at

SPIRITUAL GROWTH and what that entails.

So, what exactly is meant by SPIRITUAL GROWTH anyway?

First, the spirit is one of three parts to a person... a human being

Second, the spirit belongs to God and does NOT die.

To GROW... means to get larger, to expand, to mature or increased knowledge.

So, SPIRITUAL GROWTH must mean to EXPAND one's SPIRIT

To FEED it KNOWLEDGE... but knowledge of WHAT?

We will take a look at the WHAT but I would imagine

that the SPIRIT is to be FILLED with the SPIRIT of GOD

often described in His Word as the HOLY SPIRIT!

And 'He' is a 'He' and should be addressed as such.

I have heard some call Him an 'It' and 'He' is NOT!

Let's look at what the Bible says:

Ephesians 4:15 (NKJV)

15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things

into Him who is the head--Christ

Colossians 1:10 (NKJV)

10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him,

being fruitful in every good work and

increasing in the knowledge of God;

1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NKJV)

12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in

love to one another and to all,

just as we do to you,

Hebrews 6:1 (NKJV)

1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary

principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection,

not laying again the foundation of repentance from

dead works and of faith toward God,

2 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)

18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord

and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the

glory both now and forever. Amen.

Luke 2:40 (NKJV)

40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit,

filled with wisdom; and the grace of God

was upon Him.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NKJV)

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren,

as it is fitting, because your faith

grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you

all abounds toward each other,

That's a lot to take in but let's talk about what we just read

Looking at each of those scriptures as a whole

I came up with 7 key points:

1. TRUTH

2. FRUITFUL-NESS

3. LOVE

4. PERFECTION

5. KNOWLEDGE

6. WISDOM

7. FAITH

According to Paul (Ephesians 4:15)

it must begin with LOVE and

the TRUTH

JESUS is the TRUTH

and

GOD is LOVE!

In COL 1:10

Paul reminds us that we are to be FRUITFUL

in His GOOD WORK...Whose GOOD WORK?

GOD's GOOD WORK!

We need to INCREASE our FRUIT OUTPUT

It's sort of like the farmer increasing his acreage

Planting more apple trees

Harvesting more apples

But we must remember this

If God wants oranges

why are we growing apples?

We must be GROWING in

His GOOD WORK(s)

Not ours!

Did you ever wonder why God decided to use FRUIT?

Why not PORK or STEAK or GREEN BEANS?

Perhaps it is BECAUSE:

FRUIT is attractive to the eye

FRUIT is pleasant in one's pallet

FRUIT when digested is healthy for he or she who has digested it

Keep that THOUGHT!

In 1 Thessalonians 3:12

Paul talks about INCREASING the LOVE

for ONE ANOTHER

As we GROW

As we MATURE

as CHRISTIANS

we should experience

a NEW kind of LOVE

a LOVE for our brothers

and sisters like we have

NEVER experienced before

The abundance of LOVE

shared with you by GOD the FATHER

will FLOW STRONGER and WIDER

as you engross yourself or bath in His LOVE

Next in our list of points is PERFECTION

We are to be PERFECTED

Which is all part of GROWING in the SPIRIT

As we STUDY His Word

As we SURRENDER to Him

As we FREE ourselves from SIN

We are PERFECTED

We have a GREAT ROLE MODEL

in Christ Jesus. Amen

By Reading His Word

We INCREASE our KNOWLEDGE

of the RIGHT STUFF!

There eventually is NO ROOM

for the WRONG stuff and

like a Newspaper editing room

of years ago

It JUST FALLS on the FLOOR

to be SWEPT away

AND BURNED!

But as we GROW in SPIRIT

so too is our WISDOM to GROW

or vice versa

But what is the difference between

KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM?

WRITE THIS DOWN!

It's a TIMBLIN-ISM

Knowledge is the act of KNOWING

Wisdom is the act of DOING!

What would it help to have a vast knowledge

unless one can put it to work?

That's where His WORK comes in to the equation

As we accrue this KNOWLEDGE of Him

We begin to SHARE the FRUIT