Today is the last sermon in our series
It's titled CHRISTIANS OUGHT
To Have Spiritual Growth
We previously discussed
How Christians were to
SURRENDER TO GOD
and then
FREE FROM SIN
was our next Objective
And now we are going to look at
SPIRITUAL GROWTH and what that entails.
So, what exactly is meant by SPIRITUAL GROWTH anyway?
First, the spirit is one of three parts to a person... a human being
Second, the spirit belongs to God and does NOT die.
To GROW... means to get larger, to expand, to mature or increased knowledge.
So, SPIRITUAL GROWTH must mean to EXPAND one's SPIRIT
To FEED it KNOWLEDGE... but knowledge of WHAT?
We will take a look at the WHAT but I would imagine
that the SPIRIT is to be FILLED with the SPIRIT of GOD
often described in His Word as the HOLY SPIRIT!
And 'He' is a 'He' and should be addressed as such.
I have heard some call Him an 'It' and 'He' is NOT!
Let's look at what the Bible says:
Ephesians 4:15 (NKJV)
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things
into Him who is the head--Christ
Colossians 1:10 (NKJV)
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him,
being fruitful in every good work and
increasing in the knowledge of God;
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NKJV)
12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in
love to one another and to all,
just as we do to you,
Hebrews 6:1 (NKJV)
1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary
principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection,
not laying again the foundation of repentance from
dead works and of faith toward God,
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.
Luke 2:40 (NKJV)
40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom; and the grace of God
was upon Him.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 (NKJV)
3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren,
as it is fitting, because your faith
grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you
all abounds toward each other,
That's a lot to take in but let's talk about what we just read
Looking at each of those scriptures as a whole
I came up with 7 key points:
1. TRUTH
2. FRUITFUL-NESS
3. LOVE
4. PERFECTION
5. KNOWLEDGE
6. WISDOM
7. FAITH
According to Paul (Ephesians 4:15)
it must begin with LOVE and
the TRUTH
JESUS is the TRUTH
and
GOD is LOVE!
In COL 1:10
Paul reminds us that we are to be FRUITFUL
in His GOOD WORK...Whose GOOD WORK?
GOD's GOOD WORK!
We need to INCREASE our FRUIT OUTPUT
It's sort of like the farmer increasing his acreage
Planting more apple trees
Harvesting more apples
But we must remember this
If God wants oranges
why are we growing apples?
We must be GROWING in
His GOOD WORK(s)
Not ours!
Did you ever wonder why God decided to use FRUIT?
Why not PORK or STEAK or GREEN BEANS?
Perhaps it is BECAUSE:
FRUIT is attractive to the eye
FRUIT is pleasant in one's pallet
FRUIT when digested is healthy for he or she who has digested it
Keep that THOUGHT!
In 1 Thessalonians 3:12
Paul talks about INCREASING the LOVE
for ONE ANOTHER
As we GROW
As we MATURE
as CHRISTIANS
we should experience
a NEW kind of LOVE
a LOVE for our brothers
and sisters like we have
NEVER experienced before
The abundance of LOVE
shared with you by GOD the FATHER
will FLOW STRONGER and WIDER
as you engross yourself or bath in His LOVE
Next in our list of points is PERFECTION
We are to be PERFECTED
Which is all part of GROWING in the SPIRIT
As we STUDY His Word
As we SURRENDER to Him
As we FREE ourselves from SIN
We are PERFECTED
We have a GREAT ROLE MODEL
in Christ Jesus. Amen
By Reading His Word
We INCREASE our KNOWLEDGE
of the RIGHT STUFF!
There eventually is NO ROOM
for the WRONG stuff and
like a Newspaper editing room
of years ago
It JUST FALLS on the FLOOR
to be SWEPT away
AND BURNED!
But as we GROW in SPIRIT
so too is our WISDOM to GROW
or vice versa
But what is the difference between
KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM?
WRITE THIS DOWN!
It's a TIMBLIN-ISM
Knowledge is the act of KNOWING
Wisdom is the act of DOING!
What would it help to have a vast knowledge
unless one can put it to work?
That's where His WORK comes in to the equation
As we accrue this KNOWLEDGE of Him
We begin to SHARE the FRUIT
by SHARING His WISDOM
You might say that WISDOM is walking the talk
TALK being the KNOWLEDGE of GOD
WISDOM = KNOWLEDGE + ENERGY
(W = K + E)
Without the knowledge
and especially without the
ENERGY there can be
NO WISDOM
An LAST but NOT LEAST is FAITH
Jesus was constantly identifying
those with FAITH as in
You are Healed by Your FAITH (Mark 5:34)
or Ye of Little FAITH (Matthew 6:30)
Our GOD is FAITHFUL
Why shouldn't we be?
As we GROW in SPIRIT
so SHOULD our FAITH!
