“SPIRITUAL GROWTH OR BUST”
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. I had a wedding last week & one this week, so a little wedding humor seems in order.
2. It was the day Victoria had been waiting for – her wedding day. Her father was a wealthy businessman.
3. At the culmination of the wedding, her father escorted her down the aisle to the platform. She looks stunning and all eyes are on her. He father carefully gave her into the hand of her groom, a successful doctor.
4. But people sitting very close noticed, that as her father made the transfer, Victoria smiled and placed something in his hand.
5. Recognition dawned on them and they begin to quietly laugh – in return for giving his daughter away in marriage, she gave her father back his credit card!
B. THESIS
1. Earlier in my life when people were a little poorer, there were those who wanted to take a road trip but didn’t have abundant cash or a dependable vehicle.
2. It became kind of trendy for such persons to put a sign in their window saying something like “To California or Bust!”
3. This meant they were going to try to get there until they were broke or walking. It was a statement of determination.
4. Tonight I want us to make a similar declaration to go a destination: “Spiritual Growth or Bust!”
5. We’re going to look at God’s command for us to “INCREASE” and then at 5 principles the Bible gives us concerning spiritual growth.
I. GOD COMMANDS US TO INCREASE SPIRITUALLY
A. FIRST COMMAND
1. Gen. 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
2. God’s command here was not only directed to physical things, but also to spiritual. God commands us to grow spiritually.
B. DESIRE FOR SPIRITUAL INCREASE
1. Luke 17:5, “The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
2. This request was pleasing to Jesus. Remember, our Lord never rebuked people for having too much faith, but He often rebuked those who had little faith!
3. Without faith it’s impossible to please God (Heb. 12:6)! So you getting more faith is pleasing to God!
C. GRACE ALWAYS GREATER THAN SIN
1. We should be increasing spiritually because SIN IS INCREASING IN THE WORLD. Will you dare to go backward, or hesitate to get more from God when the world is perfecting its ability to sin?
2. But some good news is, God’s grace is always increasing faster than the sin is increasing! Romans 5:20 says, “The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.”
D. PROMISE OF INCREASE OF RIGHTEOUS
1. Job 17:9, “Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger.”
2. Here’s another indication that sanctification assists in spiritual growth. If we have “unclean hands,” that condition will hinder our growth. God won’t respect a person who’s intentionally dabbling in sin.
E. NEED FOR OTHERS TO SEE OUR PROGRESS
1. Paul told Timothy, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress” (I: 4:15).
2. Paul said that it was important that people around us see that we’re making spiritual progress! Why?
3. As an encouragement to them; so that we can stay fresh & alive; because there’s so much to learn and so much ground to cover before God calls us home, etc.
4. The point is we’re supposed to be progressing until we die.
5. HUMOR. I remember the story about the beach front retirement village, where several older men were laying out sunning on lounge chairs. One looked up and saw vultures circling overhead. He elbowed his neighbor, “Bill, you better start moving around a little, the vultures are moving in for a feast!” We Christians need to “move around” a little too!
II. 5 PRINCIPLES OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
A. NO GROWTH: CAUSE FOR CONCERN
1. One of our children, when she was still a baby, began to lose weight. We took her to Texas Children’s Hospital and after examination, they diagnosed her as having “Failure to Thrive” syndrome. That is a catch-all title that there’s something hindering a child’s growth.
2. After further tests it was determined that she had reflux – swallowing the wrong direction. A pill to relax her throat muscles solved the problem and she began to “increase” again.
3. Just as it’s abnormal for a child NOT to grow, it’s abnormal for a Christian Not to grow spiritually!
4. ARE YOU HEALTHY SPIRITUALLY? IF SO, THEN YOU’LL BE GROWING! The Gospel naturally should create growth & fruit in us.
a. Col. 1:6, “In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world.”
b. Col. 1:10, “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”
c. 2 Thess. 1:3, “your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.”
d. 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
B. GROWTH ONLY BY CONNECTION TO CHRIST
1. Our Lord Jesus told us we “branches” must stay connected to the Vine/trunk, because He’s the source of Life (John 15:1-7).
2. Paul spoke to the Colossians about the danger of losing their contact with Jesus (2:19): “They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.”
3. Eph. 4:15-16, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow in[to]…Him who is the head, that is, Christ. 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.”
4. Here Paul envisions the Church as a growing organism, each member helping the other members to grow.
C. THE WORD OF GOD IS OUR GROWTH HORMONE
1. Spiritual growth – growing up in our salvation – is greatly facilitated by ingesting the Word of God.
2. 1 Peter 2:2, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk [KJV – “sincere milk of the Word”], so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.”
3. Just as babies can’t grow without milk (they have no teeth and need calcium), we can’t grow without the Word! Do you want to grow? Read the Word daily!
D. SPIRITUAL GROWTH REPELS US FROM WORLDLINESS
1. Another outcome of spiritual growth is that when the Kingdom of God advances toward full strength in us, we will come out from the world.
2. Hebrews 11:24, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.” Moses would no longer allow himself to be associated with the world. This decision was reached when he became full grown.
3. Christians who’ve been saved for a year or two – if they stop throwing off worldly behaviors -- this is strong evidence they’ve stopped growing.
4. We must ALWAYS be attempting to advance! We’re in an army: either we’re going forward defeating the enemy, or we’re going backwards being defeated by the enemy! There’s no neutral ground to stop & settle down in this war zone!
E. SPIRITUAL GROWTH ALWAYS CAUSES OUTREACH
1. Another indicator of growth is that the “sphere of our activity” in reaching and discipling the lost “will greatly expand.” (2 Cor. 10:15).
2. 2 Cor. 10:15, “Our hope is that, as your faith continues to grow, our sphere of activity among you will greatly expand.”
3. This is the same kind of request Jabez asked of God, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” I Chron. 4:10.
4. True spiritual growth will always lead to evangelism. Conversely, when we see evangelism stop, you can be sure spiritual growth has stopped as well!
5. So let’s make up our minds once and for all that we are going to grow as Christians and continue growing until Jesus calls home!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: LARGE SPIRITUAL DIET, IN CRISIS, NECESSARY
1. One of the most famous explorers of modern history is Scott of the Antarctic. Sadly, Scott and his party died during their trip.
2. But only recently have scientists begun to understand perhaps why they died. It seems they starved themselves to death while eating!
3. Sounds like nonsense doesn’t it? But it’s not. Scientists tell us that we need to take in about 6300-7500 kilojoules of food each day in order to survive.
4. Now Scott and his party took in around 3 times the normally required amount of food – about 18000 kj each per day. You’d think that was enough, but it wasn’t.
5. You see, when you’re doing really demanding work such as dragging sleds across the Antarctic you need around 42000 kj of food energy (or 6-7 times the normal amount) to survive.
6. Scientists suggest that each member of Scott’s team, despite eating 3 times the normal food requirements, probably lost around 35 kgs. In fact they most likely starved to death!
7. This example teaches us that when we face a crisis, our spiritual diet needs to be significantly higher than at other, normal time periods.
8. It also suggests that, just like in self-defense against a sudden attacker – you need to be prepared – so in the spiritual realm. We don’t need just enough to get by – we need to be able to withstand a major crisis to our lives, for such crises will inevitably come!
9. So we need to grow and become strong in the Lord!
B. THE CALL
1. John Newton said, “I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am.”
2. Let’s make a commitment tonight to spiritual growth. That begins with the “born again” experience. How many tonight are not sure you’ve been born again? Prayer.
3. Now let’s all stand and let’s go to God to request He make us hungry for spiritual thing and feed us with the milk of the Word. Prayer.
