A. INTRODUCTION
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7, NKJV
1. My encounter with Jesus was not salvation, but I dedicated myself to Jesus anew. Also called, surrender, yielding, sanctification.
2. What is involved in walking?
a. To travel by foot.
b. Providing energy.
c. At moderate pace.
d. With purpose.
e. Advancing from a starting point.
f. To a destination or goal.
3. Sequence:
a. Before a giant leap of faith.
b. Stand on your feet.
c. Get a running start.
d. Expend all energy.
4. Before giant leap – conquer graduated levels of spiritual growth.
5. Walking with Christ is freeing.
a. Go where you choose.
b. When.
c. How.
d. Speed.
e. Walking in Christ is growing in Christ. “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).
6. Gravity is both positive and negative.
a. Keeps you and things from flying around.
b. Keeps feet on the ground.
c. Trip or drop things and yourself.
d. Wears you out, hills are barriers.
7. Part of walking is seeing ahead.
a. Baby starts by seeing mommy or things.
b. Then learns to walk where they look or see.
8. A step of faith is for a purpose.
a. Not to see if it can happen.
b. Don’t put God on the spot to see if He will do it. No!
c. You obey and leap when He calls, or He directs.
B. GROWTH SPURTS
1. Children do not grow at the same rate each in the area of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Nor do all areas grow exactly at the same rate at the same time. Nor are they all equally coordinated. Individual difference.
2. Yet God has patterns of growth, and paths of growth.
3. God has paths of coordination of all area.
4. Spiritual growth spurts. Why? Difference in Bible knowledge, faith experiences, spiritual gifts, relationships to other believers, yieldingness, and opposition from outside the church.
5. Our response:
a. We gravitate to areas of usefulness.
b. To believers of same experience and expectations.
c. Spiritual comfort or acceptance.
d. Agreement.
e. Shared purpose.
6. Observed growth.
a. A baby cannot communicate with words, but actions, emotions, etc.
b. Babes in Christ struggle to understand God’s Word.
c. Tie words and meaning of Bible interpretation and Bible application to life.
d. When a child’s verbal is activated – memory grows. Our faith grows with our ability to mark and tie the Bible to life.
7. Memory becomes faith storage. We remember what we understand, what we experience, our failures and successes.
8. The ability to connect or associate data we understand with facts or experience is called Gestalt. Archimedes (287-212 BC) called it Eureka.
9. The Holy Spirit works in us to understand or connect biblical truth to life. “Wow … I never saw that before.”
10. Peter. “Lord, it is really You, tell me to come, walking on the water” (Matthew 14:28). Was this a leap of faith?
C. HEALTHY GROWTH
1. Spiritual growth happens within parameters of God’s graduated levels, just like physical growth.
2. The “spiritual” infant who stuffs their self on candy bars, goes overboard on soft drinks, and triple desserts will be bloated and bigger. What do you call this person? What do you call the believer?
3. Walking will still keep you spiritually healthy.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
Dr. Towns’ email is eltowns@liberty.edu.
Video presentations of the PBC are available online at trbc.org/pbc
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