THE FIVE MYTHS OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Phip. 1:6
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: IMPORTANCE OF VALUABLE WORDS
1. There was a wife who was very hard of hearing. Her husband had to repeat himself all the time. The husband tried, unsuccessfully to get her to get a hearing aid.
2. One day, after the man had pitched the idea to her again, she said, “So how much would a hearing aid cost?” He said, “About $3,000.”
3. She rolled her eyes and said, “Okay, when you say something worth $3,000 I’ll get one!”
B. UNDER CONSTRUCTION -- I-45
1. One time I was on the way to a funeral and ran into a long stretch of road construction. They had numerous slowdowns, detours, and stops along the way.
2. Finally I reached the end of all the difficulty and saw smooth pavement. A sign caught my attention: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience."
3. As a matter of fact, those words fit all of us as believers, because in this life we are all "under construction."
4. When we accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we begin the lifelong process of spiritual growth. The Holy Spirit works in us to remove our selfishness (Philippians 2:4), to renew our thinking (Romans 12:2), and to develop qualities in us that are like Christ (Col. 3:5-14).
C. TEXT & TITLE
1. Paul described this process as a work of God. He said, " Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Phip. 1:6.
2. So the title of this message is, “The Five Myths of Spiritual Growth.” All of these points are NOT TRUE, and the reason why is explained after the point. The first is:
I. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS AUTOMATIC ONCE YOU’RE BORN AGAIN
A. “OLDER DOESN’T MAKE YOU AN ELDER”
1. Just because a person has been a Christian a long time doesn’t mean they’re mature. Even in Full-Gospel circles, it’s easy to pick up the terminology and mannerisms and “look” Full-Gospel, yet not be Pentecostal at all.
2. The same is true of people who ‘sort-of’ become Christians, but who’ve never fully surrendered their lives to Christ. “They have a form of godliness, but deny its power over their lives.”
3. I heard a story once about a teacher who applied for a job as a principal and didn’t get the position and so he was lamenting to a friend and said, “I don’t understand it; after all, I have twenty years experience.” To which his friend replied, “Do you, or do you have one year of experience twenty times?”
4. Hello? Some people’s Christian experience has gotten stuck just after salvation. They’ve never gone on to experience Christian maturity. They think that they have twenty years experience, but what they really have is one year of experience twenty times.
5. They have the same habits, lack of self-control, priorities, don’t obey the commandments, and haven’t conformed to Christ’s image. Are you a “one-year” Christian, 20 times, or are you a 20 year old Christian?
B. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING & BECOMING
1. Human babies automatically grow up into adult humans. But just because you’re “born again” doesn’t mean you automatically grow up into the image of Jesus! And being “born again” is not the end, but the beginning of the spiritual journey.
2. The “New Birth” is the BEING; growing in God’s grace is the BECOMING. [Not more saved!].
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits at God’s right hand in the place of honor and power. 2 Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. 3 For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. 5 ¶ So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is
idolatry. 6 God’s terrible anger will come upon those who do such things. 7 You used to do them when your life was still part of this world. 8 ¶ But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.” Col. 3:1-10 (NLT)
3. Paul clearly shows us that being “Born Again” is only the beginning, the start of the eternal life! A lot of change must follow – the transformation of our inner selves.
II. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS ALWAYS OBVIOUS
A. FREQUENTLY WE FEEL LESS MATURE AS WE GROW
1. Often, from the outward perspective, God’s work in us looks messy. When construction crews start working on a large building, they usually begin by making a BIGGER MESS than was there before.
2. The closer we get to God, the more exposed are our weaknesses and sins. Many good Christians feel like they’re going backwards in their holiness because God is exposing their inner sinfulness in order to get rid of it.
3. I was talking to a young woman the other day who’d been in a stressful situation and she said, “I used to think I was a good Christian, but since I got in this situation, a lot of impatience and anger has surfaced. I now feel I’m not a very good Christian!”
4. QUESTION: IS SHE REALLY GOING BACKWARD? No! She didn’t know those spiritual undercurrents were there before. But though she feels worse, she’s actually growing MORE, because she’s making progress in her sanctification/ personal holiness.
5. Isaiah had been a prophet of God for years, but when he actually came into direct contact with God (Isa. 6), he suddenly realized how sinful he was. That’s a good thing! So be encouraged!
B. YOUR LIFE MAY BE A MESS
1. Just because things are NOT working out for you doesn’t mean you’re not in the will of God and growing.
2. Daniel was thrown in a lion’s den; Paul and Silas were beaten at Philippi; Joseph was betrayed by Potiphar’s wife; Elijah had to ask a starving widow for aid – on and on are the examples. What do these have in common?
3. They were all growing in grace, but you couldn’t tell it from the outside. So if your life doesn’t look prosperous at the moment, don’t let the enemy tell you you’re out of the will of God or God’s favor!
III. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS LESSENED BY PROBLEMS/ ADVERSITY
A. PROBLEMS ARE GOOD FOR YOU
1. Many people believe that Christianity should offer a problem free life. But problems and difficulties are opportunities for growth. There’s no triumph without a trial; you can’t be an overcomer without something to overcome!
2. Normally when we have problems, we feel like God has failed us. A dark cloud seems to be hanging over us. But the opposite may be true!
3. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” James 1:2-4.
4. God actually intends for our trials and tests to have a positive outcome; so OUR TRIALS WORKING FOR US! “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is WORKING FOR US a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” 2 Cor. 4:17.
B. THE ADVERSITY PRINCIPLE
1. Biologists recognize a principle at work among plants and animals. This natural wonder is called "the adversity principle."
2. As strange as it seems, habitual well-being is not advantageous to a species. An existence without challenge takes its toll on virtually every living thing. I recently told how in the Biosphere II experiment, the trees couldn’t stand being bumped!
3. We’re forced closer to God by problems, because only if we turn to him and appropriate his grace will we be able to overcome. A life untested by positive and negative experiences, becomes static and stagnant.
4. Trials and suffering bring a dynamic quality to life. Just as drought drives the roots of a tree deeper to find water, so trials and suffering can drive us beyond superficial acceptance to dependence on God.
IV. SPIRITUAL GROWTH DOES NOT REQUIRE VISION
A. THE CASE OF FISH AND TREES
1. It is a well known fact that if you take a shark that normally grows to 16 feet in length, and place it in an aquarium that is five foot in length, it will never grow to its normal size, but adjust itself to remain maneuverable in the small tank.
2. Trees (Bonsai) that are placed in pots cannot achieve their size until they are planted in the ground. Until then they will remain stunted.
3. In all of life, “Growth is in proportion to its environment.” For us, that’s our faith/vision.
B. THE PRINCIPLE ADAPTED TO SPIRITUAL THINGS
1. Proverbs 29:18 tells us that “Without a vision the people perish” and Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he”.
2. Unless we believe that we can grow; and, more
importantly, believe we can do GREAT THINGS for God, we won’t ever achieve that caliber of growth.
3. May God help us see that we can be Elijahs, Pauls, Peters, Deborahs, Esthers; “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives me strength”. “These things and greater things shall you do, because I go unto My Father”. YOU CAN GROW! You can do great things!
V. SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS ONLY ACHIEVED BY SELF-IMPROVEMENT
A. IT’S RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS WHICH BRINGS GROWTH
1. Why is it, that as people spent time with Jesus, they were transformed? Examples are:
a. Stephen, the early church’s first martyr, is described in Acts 6:15, “All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.”
b. The Apostles; “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus”(Acts 4:13).
2. Growing in grace isn’t a matter of your becoming bigger and stronger in and of yourselves, but getting yourself out of the way and allowing Christ to live His life in and through you.
3. Growing in grace is not learning “10 steps to spirituality” or not simply the mastering of certain “principles.”
4. Too often we have approached the Christian life as a subject to be learned rather than as a life to be lived. You can’t grow in grace in a classroom, through a seminar, or during a “quiet time,” as good as those things may be. You can only grow in Jesus as you listen and walk with Him in obedience each day.
5. But Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. If a person abides in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” This means that we’re to allow Jesus to live in us every day.
6. The Christian life isn’t merely hard, but it’s impossible! Only the life of Jesus put inside us can drive out the sin and contagion of the world. This work does not happen overnight, but gradually, over a lifetime. Once implanted, the nature of Christ begins to work irresistibly like yeast, until its influence spreads through the whole batch of dough.
B. IT’S A RESULT OF GRACE/LOVE OF GOD
1. You do not belong to Him today because of chance, or accident, or a stroke of fate; You are His because He never gave up His search until He found You.
2. In Luke 15, God tells how He searched for us – as a lost Sheep, a lost Son, and a lost Coin. God did this because He loves you!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Once a farmer purchased squash seeds for his farm and accidently dropped one on the ground. A few feet another seed of a different type fell into the earth.
2. About a week later the squash seed began to grow; the second seed didn’t. After 2 weeks the squash began to sprout leaves. The second seed showed none.
3. After 7 weeks the squash grew fruit and in 4 more weeks reached the end of its life bearing much fruit in that time, but the other seed finally began to slowly grow.
4. Many years later the squash was all but forgotten, but the other tiny seed, an acorn, had grown into a mighty oak tree.
5. Many people want their maturity to be in a hurry, like the squash; but God is looking for something greater, that will endure forever!
B. THE CALL
1. “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain
2. How many of you want to grow in Christ? Stand with me for prayer.
3. I’m going to pray the sinner’s prayer for those who may not be right with God. If you would like to be included in that prayer, please raise your hand. Prayer.
