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Message – Growing in Spiritual Maturity
Series – Abraham - Father of Faith
Scripture: Genesis 18
Introduction: God has a plan and a purpose about each and every child of God. God has a universal plan and God’s plan for you and me fits into the universal plan of God. Jeremiah 1:5 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:12 The Lord said to me, “for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled." God is working in fulfilling his plan for you today. We cannot obtain God’s purposes by leading an ordinary life. We have to lift up our faith and life to godly standards for God to use us. In other words, God wants us to grow and mature spiritually. Do you feel you are growing in your spiritual life? Are you growing in your faith and devotion to God or do you feel that you are still a spiritual baby with less or no growth at all who needs a lot of attention? God wants us to grow in spiritual maturity. Today I want to speak to you on ‘growing in spiritual maturity.’ Your desires in life and God’s promises in your life can be achieved only when we fall in line of God’s calling on our life.
1. God works on us as individuals to establish his plans.
God works in us to make us spiritually mature. In Genesis 12 God appeared to Abraham. God gave Abraham a promise, a vision, and a purpose in life. Though Abraham left his house in obedience to God’s calling, the Bible says there were times when his faith was shaken. In Genesis 12, 15, & 17 God appeared to Abraham and strengthened his faith. Finally in chapter 17 of Genesis Abraham responds by complete obedience. By now Abraham begins to mature in his faith. He begins to trust his God wholeheartedly. He obeyed God in circumcising his whole household in one day in Genesis 17 when he was 99 years old and God finally gave him a son when he was 100 years old. It took 25 years for Abraham’s faith to mature. God worked in Abraham all these years and finally God delivered his promise.
Moses was selected to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage when he was a child. It took 80 years (40 years in Egypt & 40 years in Midian) for Moses to fall in line with God’s plan. David was anointed king at age 20 but it was at age 37 that he really became a King. It took 17 years to build up David’s trust and faith in God. Child of God, God constantly works in our lives to make us mature. The circumstances we are in are given by God to establish his ways in our life. Our sickness, financial problems, struggles in life etc. are given by God so that we may mature in our spiritual life. So do not lose heart, God is in control.
An aircraft has so much of difficulties when it starts moving. It needs clearance from ATC, the weather has to be good, there must be no birds in the vicinity etc. Once it gets the clearance, it takes off and gains altitude, it is no more bothered by the condition below where it took off from. Its only focus is to fly forward to reach its destination. Today, God wants us to rise up our spiritual lives according to his calling. When our spiritual life begins to soar the problems of this world become less important to us and our focus will be to reach the destination that God is calling us for. Therefore, understand God works in us individually to achieve his plans. Today, He is working in you, so do not give up, God is in control.
2. God works on others to collectively establish His plans.
Remember, Abraham on his own could do nothing to see God’s plan come through. He needed support from his wife, Sarah. Now what if Sarah wanted a daughter? What if she did not want a child at all by now? God had to work collectively with Sarah after working with Abraham to accomplish his purpose. Let us see how God does that.
Read Genesis 18:1-8. It was noon time and Abraham was probably resting under the shade of great trees of Mamre. Bangalore is very hot nowadays and you can imagine the cool in the shade of our street trees in the afternoon sun. Abraham saw 3 men standing nearby and he met them. He invited them to his tent. Abraham let them rest in his tent and gave them food to eat. Remember Abraham is already in obedience to God and he recognized that these are not ordinary guests, but the Lord and his angels. Hebrews 13:2 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Abraham showed great hospitality to these guests.
Now what was God’s purpose to visit Abraham? I feel God visited Abraham’s tent to strengthen Sarah’s faith. Sarah’s faith would have been as low as Abraham’s faith. God personally worked with Abraham over the years and he matured in his relationship with God. Now God needed to strengthen Sarah’s faith. Maybe Abraham forgot to tell Sarah about the promised son or maybe that Abraham told Sarah and she could not believe it. It was just that Sarah’s faith needed reassurance. The Lord just did that by visiting them in their tent. The Bible says in Hebrews 11:11 11By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he]considered him faithful who had made the promise. Here we can find both Abraham and Sarah had faith in God collectively to achieve God’s promises in their lives. When my faith matures and I start to pursue God’s purposes, God works with you (church) collectively and instills the same vision in you so that together we can work for establishing God’s plans in our lives.
How did God strengthen Sarah’s faith?
Genesis 18:8-15 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. 9 "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he said. 10 Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?" 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, ’Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son." 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh." But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."
These were days when women and men did not eat together. The women usually sit on the other side of the tent, often separated with a curtain. So the guests could not see the women but the women could listen to the guest’s conversation. As the visitors were eating they did something unusual. The guest asked for Abraham’s wife by name. No visitor would know the host’s wife’s name and even if they knew they would never ask. Now by asking ‘where is your wife, Sarah’ the guests hint that the visit was indeed for Sarah. This also shows that they were not just human visitors, but God and angels. Now Sarah laughed to herself when the visitor said that she will have a son next year. She would have laughed in her heart, without making a sound. The visitors knew Sarah laughed. It was indeed God who was in the tent that day with Abraham. Sarah outrightly denied that she laughed but God said “Yes, you did laugh.” God did not just condemn Sarah for her telling lies. God tries to work through Sarah and strengthen her faith in order to achieve his plans. See what God says: Genesis 18:14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? God knew Sarah’s weakness and God made Sarah believe that anything and everything is possible by God. God knows our unbelief and He wants to work in us to build up our faith and trust in Him. God says anything is possible by me. Here God himself strengthened Sarah’s faith. God prepared Sarah to stand by Abraham to fulfil his purposes.
God gave me a vision about City Harvest AG Church when we were just 3 of us; Glory, Sam, and me. When my faith soared, God worked in Glory to comprehend that vision. When we worked together with God for the fulfilment of that vision God brought all of you to us and put the same vision on you. When we worked together for the extension of God’s kingdom God put the burden of building a sanctuary for City Harvest AG Church to a fellow brother of ours. Now collectively we at City Harvest AG Church are moving forward establishing God’s purposes here at the city of Bangalore. God collectively works in others to establish his plans.
Conclusion: God is working in you and me today. Today all that you are going through is a plan of God. God wants us to be mature in our faith and spiritual life through our circumstances. Once we fall in line with God’s plan it is again God who brings others with the same vision to work with us. Now, God does not leave us like that neither did he leave Abraham alone. The more Abraham was obedient to God, the more God became intimate with Abraham. The more you fall in line with God’s plan the more God will reveal his heart to you. He will reveal his plan and purpose to you. Read Genesis 18:16-17 16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? This shows God’s closeness with Abraham. By now Abraham has become very intimate to God and he got the title ‘Friend of God.’ James 2:23 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God’s friend.
God wants to be intimate with you today. He wants to reveal his plans for you today but you need to walk with him. God wants us to mature in faith and trust in Him. He is always ready for us waiting to have an intimate relationship with us. Let us take a decision today to take our spiritual life seriously. It is a relationship, so let us take time to nurture it. May God Bless you!
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