07 03 2010 Rayleigh AM
Are you growing in Grace?
At one point during a school cricket match, the teacher said to one of his young players, “Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?”
The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
“Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?”
The little boy nodded yes.
“So,” the teacher continued, “when you’re out at first, you don’t argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?”
Again the little boy nodded.
“Good,” said the teacher. “Now go over there and explain it to your mother.”
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Anyone listen to the radio station that used to be Essex FM, it’s now called Heart.
In the morning the breakfast show is hosted by Martin and Sue.
On Thursday morning they were debating what the law says about Zebra crossings -
do drivers have to stop to let someone cross the road or can they just keep driving.
Sue was complaining because she was using a Zebra crossing and nearly got hit by a car that refused to stop.
They discovered that if someone is already using the crossing the law states that a driver must stop - but if there is no one on the crossing the driver can keep going...
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The law says that to be ignorant of the law is no excuse for not following it.
And we are held accountable for being lawful citizens.
But in reality, you cannot be expected to know more than that which you are taught.
For example, I have never been taught how to sail a boat.
And since I have not been taught,
I cannot be held accountable for not having that information.
I could probably figure it out myself over time,
but then I would still end up being taught,
even if it were being self-taught.
Where am I going with this.
As Christians it is important that we learn the truth in God’s Word for ourselves.
It is important that we learn the truth and live the truth.
All of us need a deeper understanding of God.
In 2 PETER 3:18 it says,
‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.’
These are the words of an old man, written down as his legacy for us.
It took a lifetime for Simon, the brash and outspoken young man to grow into the Apostle Peter, the bold and focused man of Almighty God.
And the very faults of his younger character became his strengths as he grew to maturity in Christ Jesus.
I think we can take these words, as the starting point to correct what I feel is a very neglected duty of Christians.
A neglect to see the importance of growing in Christ.
A neglect in realizing that the only way to grow in Christ is to read the Bible every day;
and to even study it to learn more about Christ and His will for us.
Let me start by talking about how;
1. WE NEED TO GROW IN CHRIST JESUS
We are to grow in the grace AND knowledge of Jesus.
Both of these things are directly connected to Jesus.
He is the Author of our Grace,
and He is the Object of the knowledge that allows us to grow in Him.
Now, we should all know what ‘knowledge’ is.
The dictionary defines ‘knowledge’ as;
‘Having awareness of something gained through experience or association.’
In other words,
if you don’t read it, if you don’t study it,
you will not have any knowledge of it.
And if you do not have knowledge of it, you will not have it.
And that is exactly where many churchgoers are today:
They don’t read the Word, yet they want to know it. So they depend on somebody else to read it for them, (pastors or teachers), and then they only make themselves available to hear it for one hour a week.
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Let’s talk about God’s ‘Grace’.
Grace is the undeserved love in which we have been favoured by God through Jesus.
And Grace manifests itself in the growing Christian as Godly integrity.
Our main focus in life should be to rest closer to His heart with each passing day.
And if your love for Him is real,
you should read His Word each day;
to receive His knowledge and revelation
so that you can lead a productive Christian life, and not languish in a watered down or lukewarm version of Christianity.
Most people watch TV for between 3 and 10 hours each day.
21-70 hours a week in front of the TV.
People may spend 35-60 hours a week on their jobs, but are not willing to spend any time with God in prayer.
Many people consider themselves good Christians if they go to church for one hour a week on Sunday.
Some people complain about having to go to church more than once a week because of the distance, or the time it takes
And those same people would think nothing of driving twice that distance or more to go shopping or visit a friend without any complaints.
Then there are these people who try and read many books ‘about’ the Bible,
but will not pick up the Bible and read it.
Jesus wants us to be excited and on fire for His glory.
He does not want us to sit by, idly doing nothing.
He wants us to learn how to be active Christians.
The key word here is ‘learn.’
We cannot learn unless we read, and yes – even study His Words.
And that leads me to ask:
2. WHAT KEEPS CHRISTIANS FROM GROWING IN CHRIST?
One reason is attitude.
If our attitudes are self-focused, we have nothing to do with honouring Jesus or giving Him any glory.
We need to focus on Jesus We need to focus on God’s glory!
We need to get the importance of God’s Word back in focus and start reading our Bibles more often
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Be honest - do you need to develop your own heart toward God by growing closer to Jesus?
Do you want to grow in Christ?
Are you willing to spend more time learning about the God who loves you?
Are you willing to learn more about the truth?
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There is a passage in the Bible that should be our guiding light in the search for truth.
In JOHN 8:31-32, Jesus is talking to the Jews and He tells them about His truth:
‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’
Let’s analyse these words.
Jesus is talking to His children, the Jews.
Did you know that through our belief in Jesus as our Saviour, He is also telling us the same thing?
If we really hold to His teaching, we are His disciples.
That means if we read His teaching,
and then live the way we want to,
we are not His followers,
even if we attend every church service.
We must believe in Him as the truth,
for that is the only way we can hold to His teaching.
To grow in the Lord:
We need to spend time in His word,
And we need to focus on what He wants and not on what we want.
If we strive to live for Him,
He tells us that we will then know and understand the truth of God, and that truth will set us free.
I love the part where Jesus tells us:
3. THE TRUTH SHALL SET US FREE
In life we should desire to: ‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’
The first truths that people learn when they become a Christian are the most important.
It is the faith in that truth that saves all who trust in it; all who submit to it; simply and fully.
That is the entire message from our God.
If we will just trust in the truth of His Son; if we will submit to it; we will be set free from the consequence of sin.
Henry Blackaby wrote,
‘When God was ready to judge the world with a flood He called upon Noah.
When He wanted to build a nation for Himself, He turned to Abraham.
When He saw His children being beaten down under Egyptian bondage, He came to Moses as a burning bush.
These were three of the most ordinary of men.
But God had work to do, and He used the men He could trust to do that work. God has always given His people assignments that are too big for them to handle alone, all so that a watching world could see - not what we can do - but what God can do through us.’
Let me ask another question:
Can God trust you to do His work for Him?
Can He rely on you to carry forth His wonderful message of glory and grace?
Have you ever heard the expression,
‘Out of the mouths of babes ….?’
It just seems the natural order of things for children to speak the truth without trying to sugar coat it and make it politically correct.
And because of their ability to do so, they are free from the bondage of having to make up things or distort things like we adults seem to do.
In Sunday school, a class of children were given an assignment for the next week.
They were to write down things in their lives that they know are true.
The next Sunday, they read these truths out loud.
Patrick, said, ‘Never trust a dog to watch your food.’
Mike said, ‘When your dad asks, ‘Do I look stupid?’ don’t answer him.’
Karen said, ‘Don’t ever use felt tip pens as lipstick.’
And little Eileen said, ‘Never try to baptize a cat.’
Those lessons we learn in the beginning of our walk with Jesus do not leave us as the lessons we may have learned as children in school leave us.
We first learn simple arithmetic; one plus one equals two then as our education progresses,
we find our way into Algebra and even further if we have an interest in it.
And as we grow our we get further away from the simple arithmetic we first learned.
Our growth in Christ is not the same
We do not grow away from our earliest lessons, but we hang on to them tightly as we continue to grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And speaking of truths, there is one sentence that has more truth in it than any other sentence ever written.
JOHN 3:16. ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave up His only Son; so that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting and eternal life.’
Now, that is what God has offered us.
It is the most serious thing in anyone’s life, yet how many of us actually take that seriously?
How many of us actually sit down to analyze that promise?
And how many of us even try to pattern our daily lives after it? Sadly, the answer is; ‘few of us.’
We are called to seek the truth.
Often we look at the world first, but there is no truth to be found there.
And since there is no truth in the world, there can be no real freedom in the world.
All truth and all freedom come from God alone.
But just as truth shall set you free,
4. THE TRUTH ITSELF, HOWEVER, IS NOT FREE
We are also called to grow in Christ, but spiritual growth often costs.
Our spiritual growth is obtained through spiritual warfare.
One thing we can always look forward to in life is having the devil try to tempt us into sin.
And that is from the day we are held accountable until the day we die. It never stops.
God gives us the weapons to deny the devil.
We are given Godly courage; Godly strength;
and other tools that help us in the battle, or spiritual warfare.
The Apostle Paul tells us, we are to persevere daily in our race, keeping our focus on the rewards at the end of the race, not on the sins we encounter on our way to the end.
We are called to grow in knowledge and grace in Jesus Christ.
We are called to keep our focus on Him.
Don’t be too busy to read His Word;
Don’t put your prayer life off until ‘later’;
Don’t replace God in your life with the things of this world.
If your belief is to be of any use to you at all,
it is to be revived and kept alive by being used.
Don’t be a lukewarm or invisible Christian that does nothing for the glory of God.
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To grow in God, you may need to leave behind some things you enjoy in this world.
You see, when you gain knowledge of the Lord,
you will also get something else;
a knowledge of what the devil would rather you waste your time on.
Here is the truth. To pursue the truth of God costs.
But it is the truth that sets us free.
Seek the truth of God.
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Our spiritual journey to growth is a wonderful trip, but it is not free and it does have a price:
That price is our willingness to let go of the world and hang on to God.
The Apostle John tells us another harsh, but true, teaching on this.
1 JOHN 2:15 ‘Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him.’
He is telling us what we ought to do;
love the Father and leave the world.
Now that we know this, we should all remember what Jesus’ half-brother James told us.
JAMES 4:17
‘Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.’
And that is our message for today.
Let me recap quickly.
A) We are given a command to grow in Christ.
B) We let two things stand between us and that growth; Our unavailability to get into the Word and study it for ourselves, and our desire to live how we want, and not how He wants us to live
C) But if we really receive the Godly truth, it will set us free.
D) We must realize, the truth is not free, it requires work from us.
