Growing up Spiritually PT2 (God wants to Grow, Go, Glow, Flow)
If you would please turn in your bibles to
To Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV)
11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,
12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
Paul in v:15
When he said ….speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.
….is talking about
A MATURE PERSON - SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING.
TODAY I want to talk about …….Growing up spiritually again
T.T. 2 Peter 3:18
The Bible teaches us a comparison between
• Physical development
and
• Spiritual development
The Bible speaks…..
of stages in spiritual development
They are…
1. babyhood,
2. childhood,
3. and manhood, or adulthood.
• These stages in spiritual development
• correspond to stages in physical development:
Naturally ….no one is physically born a full-grown human.
We are born as babies
and we grow up.
Spiritual…no one is born a full-grown Christian.
We are born as spiritual babes, and then we grow up.
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.
Say this with me!
GOD WANTS ME TO
1. Grow in the grace
2. Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Someone might say
how do I know if
I’m growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Go back a couple of chapters T.T. 2 Peter 1:5-7
• What I want to see is….
• Growing up spiritually
• Not only accompanies grace and a knowledge
• Growing up spiritually - will also be accompanied by fruit in our lives
• You remember Jesus said in John 15
John 15:5 (NIV)
5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
2 Peter 1:3-9 (NIV)
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Hold your finger here in 2 Peter 2
T.T. Acts 9
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You remember Saul’s Damascus road Experience……
Acts 9:
Paul, eager to destroy every Christian, went to the High Priest in Jerusalem.
He requested that he could take Christians as prisoners to Jerusalem.
On his way to Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven showed down on him!
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
"Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?"
"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied.
Acts 9:6 (NKJV)
6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
I want you to notice
when Saul had this light shined round about him,
he fell to the earth under the power of God.
1. Jesus said, ---- why are you persecuting Me?
2. And Saul said, "who are You?"
3. He thought Jesus was dead and gone.
4. And Jesus said --- I’m Jesus.
Notice in v:6
Acts 9:6 (NKJV)
So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"
What I want you to see as is
• Growing up spiritually
• Not only accompanies grace and a knowledge and fruit in our lives
An attribute of growing up spiritually is
1. You asking God ---- what do you want me to do – like Paul did
2. And understanding God has something for you to do! Amen.
Acts 9:6 (b)….Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
T.T. 1 Peter 2:2
He’s got something for everybody to do.
And that’s why we’re here.
I want to encourage you.
• If Jesus is your Lord …..
God has something for you to do ……and the joy is in doing it.
All right.
The first thing He wants you to do is to grow.
Romans 8:29 (KJV)
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
You see, when you’re born again, you’re a little baby.
The Bible talks about: 1 Peter 2:2 (KJV)
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
> SOME PEOPLE NEVER GROW
> We want to grow in the Lord.
The Bible says Eph 4:14-15 (KJV)
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
• He doesn’t want us to be babies nor children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.
• He wants a stable, grown-up church.
The Bible says, 2 Peter 3:18 (KJV)
18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
LISTEN!!!!!
• Every Christian ought to be growing in knowledge of Jesus every year you live.
You need to know more about God.
Get acquainted with God by just taking the Bible and reading it.
You say,
Well, there’s so much in the Bible I don’t understand.
Well, just keep busy with what you do understand.
LISTEN
If the Spirit of God is in it,
He is concerned about there being unity.
Remember Ephesians 4:13:
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
That which divides Christians is not of the Spirit of God
—it is of the devil!
• The Spirit of love never divides.
God wants us to grow up spiritually.
1. God wants you to grow in grace and knowledge.
2. God wants spiritual growth that’s accompanied by fruit in our lives
3. God wants you to do something.
4. And then God wants us to grow in faith!!
5. He wants your faith to grow.
T.T. 2 Thess 1:1-3 (KJV)
Did you know --- every Christian begins with the same amount of faith?
• LISTEN
• ~ You can stay in a baby stage and never develop in your faith,
• or you can grow in faith.
Paul said to the Thessalonians -- he said, "Your faith groweth
God doesn’t want you to remain a baby nor a child.
He wants strong in
the great and precious promises
that he promised you.
> He wants somebody who has grown-up faith
> and grown-up knowledge in Him.
He doesn’t give one baby Christian
more faith than He gives another.
SLOW
After we are born again, however,
1. it is up to each one of us to develop
2. the measure of faith that has been given to us.
Too many have done with their faith
what the fellow did with his one talent:
He wrapped it in a napkin,
hid it, and didn’t use it.
Your measure of faith can be increased, …………it can grow.
But you are the one who increases it, not God!
Your measure of faith can be increased by doing these two things:
(1) Feeding it on the Word of God, and
(2) Exercising it by putting it into practice.
Romans 10:17 (NKJV)
17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
James 2:26 (NKJV)
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
You have things that belong to you !!!!
in the word of God
that you need to know about,
And you need to grow up in those things.
No,
I don’t know everything I ought to know about God.
I’m going to continue to grow.
• Lord, what will You have me to do?
Well, He wants you to grow.
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I remember when I got saved.
I began to go to my world.
We ought to go into the world where our relatives are and let’s tell them about Jesus and then go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
You know the Bible says go; …it doesn’t say stay.
Matt 28:18-20 (KJV)
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
We’re commissioned of God
to take the gospel around the world.
That’s what this Church is all about.
• I’ve got good news. (I’ve got good news.)
You know, if you’ve got good news to tell people.
AMEN!!
• You take a woman that finds out about a sale, she’ll call everybody in the country and say, Do you know what I got on sale?
Why is she doing that? It’s good news.
• We’ve got good news, and we ought to go tell that good news.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
He’s a Savior.
He’s a deliverer.
He can get you out of drugs and alcohol.
He can change your life.
He can heal your body.
He can deliver you.
• So, Lord, what do You want me to do?
He said,
I want you to grow and then GO
You know that scripture that says,
THE BIBLE SAYS ~ Matt 5:14-16 (KJV)
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
• Oh, we ought to let our light shine
The Bible says
Our bodies are filled with the Holy Ghost
and we ought to have a joy about us.
You know,
if you’re dragging around
sad
looking down
criticizing people
• This joy I’ve got, the world didn’t give it to me and the world can’t take it away.
We ought to shine with the glory of God.
Oh, put a smile on your face
and put your shoulders back
and tell this world about Jesus.
If any family ought to be full of joy, it ought to be my family.
• When I think about Yvonne, how God healed her.
Praise the Lord.
We got a lot to be joyous about.
We ought to let our light shine.
Lord, what will You have me to do?
And then the final thing is God said I want you to flow.
Flow in the Holy Ghost.
Flow in the power of God.
Thank God for the Holy Ghost.
Zech 4:6 ~ Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the
LORD of hosts.
Romans 8:14 ~ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God.
Psalms 23:1-6 (KJV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
So, learn to flow.
If you’ll learn to flow with God,
God will flow with you; and
you’ll see mighty things happen in your life.
Sometime we may seem a little fanatical, but we’re just fanatics.
We can’t deny it.
You know.
Heard that story about this man.
Old farmer got saved.
He was a reprobate and he went to church and said, Amen,
and they had to send a committee out there to him
and tell him to stop saying "Amen" in their church.
They walked out in the field where he had that mule leading him out. They said,
We’ve been sent out here as a committee to tell you to stop saying "Amen" in our church and getting so happy.
He said, Oh, Brother; and tears began to roll down his eyes.
He said,
When I think about how I used to be an alcoholic
and I used to beat my wife
and I used to beat my children
and I used to spend all my money
and then Jesus came in
and He saved my soul
and delivered me from alcohol
and gave me joy in my –
oh, hold my mule while I shout. Hallelujah.
And that’s what we’re talking about.
We got so much joy, we want to share it with you.
When you meet the Lord, you’ll hear Him say,
You lived in one of the darkest hours of human history,
but you did My will.
Well done thou good and faithful servant.
DO YOU NEED JESUS TODAY?
