Sermon Tone Analysis

The Apostle John knows that this message to his congregation is going to be tough.

He has some hard things to say.

In the vocabulary of our day, he has some politically incorrect things to say.

They will not be easy to hear.

Truth is sometimes hard to listen to.

However, he wants to assure them, that in spite of the hard things he needs to say, that he loves these people dearly, and wants to encourage them in their faith.

The epistle was written with four primary intentions:

* To show believers how their joy in this life may be full.

* To guard them against sin.

* To warn them about false teachers.

* To give them an assurance of their salvation.

It’s very easy to see that the audience of this sermon; though they were all believers, are in different stages of spiritual maturity.

Some he calls “fathers,” some he calls “young men” and still others he refers to as “children”.

These are not necessarily specific age groups, the Apostle is referring to, but levels of spiritual maturity.

This morning, I’d like to walk you through those three identifications and talk to you about levels of spiritual growth.

But first, let me acquaint you with five misconceptions about spiritual growth.

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I. MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GROWTH

#. the God who gave us spiritual life in Christ intends for that life to grow into spiritual maturity

#.

He intends for us to grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ

#. the goal of spiritual growth is to become more and more like Jesus

#. the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Philippian Christians makes this clear

* /“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”/

(Philippians 3:13–14, NIV84)

#. what is the goal we are straining toward ?

#. it is the prize for which God has called me heavenward

#. it is our total conformation to the character of Christ Jesus

#. the Apostle John totally concurs with this

* /“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”/ (1 John 2:6, NIV84)

#. each of us here this morning who names the name of Christ are to be busy about the task of growing in our faith

#. the biblical term for this is sanctification and it must be progressive—that is, it must be on-going

#. there are, however, some misconceptions about spiritual growth that I want to quickly deal with

!! A. MISCONCEPTION #1—Spiritual Growth Has Nothing to Do with Your Standing Before God in Christ

#. your standing before God was settled when you put your trust in Jesus, who is the Christ

#. it is the righteousness of Christ that covers you and allows you to stand before a holy God, totally justified

* /“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.

I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”/

(Philippians 3:8–9, NIV84)

#. that standing never changes regardless of how immature you remain in the faith or how mature you become in the faith

!! B. MISCONCEPTION #2—Spiritual Growth Has Nothing to Do with God’s Love for You

#.

God doesn’t love you more or like you better if you’re mature in the faith

* /“It was just before the Passover Feast.

Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.

Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.”/

(John 13:1, NIV84)

#. the scene is the Upper Room on the night of our Lord’s last Passover with his disciples

#. the picture painted of the disciples is not a pretty one

#.

on this solemn occasion we find them arguing again about which of them will be the greatest in the Kingdom

#. they were proud, they were immature, and they were doubters

#. yet, Jesus loved them with the full extent of his love

#.

Jesus loves us with a perfect love

#. he cannot love us more because we are more mature

#. he cannot love us less because we are less mature

#.

Jesus loves his sheep with the full extent of his love

!! C. MISCONCEPTION #3—Spiritual Growth Has Nothing to Do with Time

#. spiritual growth is not measured by the calendar

#. unfortunately, there are people who have been Christians for a very long time who are woefully immature in their spiritual lives

#. the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Christians at Cornith, had to admonish them for their immaturity

* /“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.

Indeed, you are still not ready.

You are still worldly.

... “/ (1 Corinthians 3:1–3, NIV84)

#. these were believers who should have matured beyond their spiritual infancy

#. but they hadn’t because they were caught up in jealousy, factionalism, and worldliness

#. on the other hand, some believers will so fall in love with Jesus, that in a very short period of time they reach a spiritual maturity that many long-time believers lack

!! D. MISCONCEPTION #4—Spiritual Growth Is Not Related to Knowledge

#. growing in the faith does not—I repeat, does not—proceed from an accumulation of biblical information

#. you can have a Ph.D. in biblical studies or systematic theology and be stunningly immature in the faith

#. in fact, the more biblical information you receive and don’t apply, the more deceived you are about your true state of immaturity

#. growing in the faith does—I repeat, does—proceed from the application of biblical information

* ILLUS.

In 2011 about forty-five members of this congregation committed themselves to reading through the Bible in one year.

Praise God.

I commend you for doing that.

Believers need to periodically read through the Bible.

However, when it comes to your spiritual growth, I would encourage you to take one Bible verse a week and meditate on that verse for a period of time every day with particular emphasis on applying that verse to your life.

#. growing in the faith proceeds from the application of biblical truth to our lives

!! E. MISCONCEPTION #5—Spiritual Growth Is Not Related to Churchy Activity

#. do I believe that believers ought to be in Church for every service of the Church?

#. absolutely!

#. do I believe that attending every service of the Church means you are spiritually mature in the faith?

#. absolutely not!

#. but let me quickly add that the odds of growing in your faith are greater when you regularly expose yourself to bible study, worship, preaching, fellowship and prayer then if you do not

#.

these, then are some of the misconceptions about spiritual growth

#.

now then, let’s move on to ...

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II.

MILESTONES OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH

* ILLUS.

We don’t use milestones in our culture any more, but we do use milage markers.

Milestones are constructed to provide reference points along the road.

This can be used to reassure travelers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance traveled or the remaining distance to a destination.

Likewise, there are spiritual milestones in the Christian life that we need to be watching for.

In this passage, the Apostle mentions three of them.

The milestone of childhood, the milestone of youth, and the milestone of maturity.

#. the Apostle John writes to encourage his congregation in their faith

* /“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”/

(1 John 5:13, NIV84)

#. he didn’t write this epistle to make us doubt

#. the Apostle John begins by acknowledging his hearer’s relationship with Christ