What is Spiritual Growth?
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We all want to grow don’t we? We want to grow spiritually…we want to know God better…be more like Him…love Him faithfully…walk in His ways.
“Leonard Ravenhill tells about a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village who walked by an old man sitting beside a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one tourist asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" The old man replied, "Nope, only babies." A frothy question brought a profound answer. There are no instant heroes--whether in this world or in the kingdom of God. Growth takes time.”
Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others; keep yourself free from sin.
“Plant a tree and it begins to grow; set a post and it begins to decay. Which are you, a tree or a post?” — THis is the proper question to begin this sermon isn’t it? We all want to grow but are you saved? Do you have life? And if you have life are you living
No one begins their new life in Christ as a spiritual adult…all of us are in the process of growing in our walk with Christ!
But what constitutes real, right and genuine Christian growth?
There have always been those associated with Christianity who long to become jedi, wizards and gurus thinking this is the goal of Christian spiritual growth They hope to achieve a level of spiritual knowledge that would make them powerful...so that they might become Gandalf.
They would have the power to call fire from heaven, heal the sick and work spiritual miracles at their will. Through their knowledge and the power it gave, they would become something extraordinary.
This idea is really nonsense and nothing new at all…those who teach such ideas are simply piggybacking onto an old satanic trick...Satan loves to take a bit of truth, mix in a whole lot of error and attempt to pass it off as a deeper, more perfect kind of truth. He did this in the Garden.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.
But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
“In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan twisted God’s words and created an enticing idea in the mind of Eve…you can become more than you are…God is keeping you from deeper spiritual truth that will transform you from a normal human being into a super-human one…in fact you can even be like God.
There are always folks who are looking for a mysticism and spiritism in their faith that would take them beyond mere human existence and the purposes of God…there is a pride within us all that wants to be God.
Paul is addressing some of these people in Colossi.
Such desires have led many to school of signs, wonders and miracles...
Paul is addressing some of these people in Colossi. Teachers were going around in the early church teaching that the Gospel was only the beginning to a deeper spiritual knowledge…a knowledge that can make you more powerful and spiritually attune. They taught a person can know deeper spiritual truths and become extraordinary.
God does use us to heal the sick…raise the dead…and has even called some fire down from heaven on occasion…but it is always for His purpose…His glory. It is not an achievement of deep spiritual knowledge…a learned trick
Part of the heresy Paul is addressing in this book and one which he addresses again and again in his other writings was the idea that there is something more than what you already have in Christ…
Spiritual growth is not the learning of something more than we have at salvation!
The totality of our faith can be summed up in the Gospel…we are saved from sin and born again…a trophy of His grace…a masterpiece He can show off for His glory.
Teachers were going around in the early church teaching that the Gospel was only the beginning to a deeper spiritual knowledge…a knowledge that can make you more powerful and spiritually attune. They taught a person can know deeper spiritual truths and become extraordinary.
Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden.
But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
“No! You will not die,” the serpent said to the woman.
“In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan twisted God’s words and created an enticing idea in the mind of Eve…you can become more than you are…God is keeping you from deeper spiritual truth that will transform you from a normal human being into a super-human one…in fact you can even be like God.
The fact is simple…we are already extraordinary in Christ. He has saved us…made us alive in Him…made us a part of His plans and work to save the world. He does extraordinary things through us because of our faith and obedience to Him…there is no special knowledge whereby we achieve something more than Jesus gives by faith in Him.
So what is Spiritual Growth???
Spiritual growth is the act of growing into a deeper appreciation, understanding and application of what we receive at the moment we are saved.
Genuine spiritual growth is from God
We can grow in the knowledge of our faith but it is simply a deeper understanding of what we already have…a greater appreciation for and application of the spiritual truth given us at salvation. There is nothing more than the revelation we have in Christ…He is the fullness of God’s revelation to mankind!
having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
God has revealed Himself through the Jesus, His Son…There is no revelation beyond Him.
Paul shows us what righteous spiritual growth looks like and what the end of such growth should be.
Paul’s Prayer
Paul’s Prayer
Since Paul heard about the the salvation of those in Colossi and the church planted there he prayed for them…and ironically it was a prayer for their spiritual growth…but the right kind…not an addition to the Gospel but fuller understanding and application of the Gospel!
Paul’s Prayer...
Filled with the Knowledge of God’s Will — This is not a request that they might know some specific thing to do…like which job to take, where to live or what one’s major should be in college. This was a prayer for a deeper understanding of the truth of the Christian faith as given them in the gospel.
Filled with the Knowledge of God’s Will — This is not a request that they might know some specific thing to do…like which job to take, where to live or what one’s major should be in college. This was a prayer for a deeper understanding of the truth of their Christian faith. That all wisdom and spiritual understanding be given to them
Wisdom and spiritual understanding — Paul is asking for God to do something in them…this would be a knowledge given through the Holy Spirit...not book knowledge. It would be more than an experiential knowledge as well…Paul is asking that God would pour out wisdom and understanding upon them…to give them spiritual discernment of what God says is true.
Lack of discernment often accounts for the failure of those in the pew to realize the full import of unsound teaching from the pulpit. A brilliant modernistic preacher, who had pleased his audience with flowery oratory and beautiful perorations, as he discoursed glibly of the importance of breadth of view and the danger of bigoted opinions, was bidding farewell to his congregation as he was about to leave them for a new parish. One of his young men approached him and said, "Pastor, I am so sorry we are losing you. Before you came I was one who did not care for God, man, or the devil, but through your delightful sermons, I have learned to love them all!" This is mere sentimentality—not discerning love.
This is what we should pray for as well....That we would know God’s heart…what He thinks and feels in any given situation we are in…that we would, in every moment and at every turn, know what God would have us believe, say and do because we have the mind of God.
We are confronted with a myriad of options when it comes to worldviews and what constitutes right and wrong. All around us are those who champion homosexual marriage, marriage, atheism, relativism and secular humanism.
We are surrounded by syncretism (the idea you can create a religion of your own from the pieces of all religions that have come before) as well as universalism (the idea all roads lead to heaven). What does God think? What is His will?
But we are also surrounded by complicated issues…A mean and spiteful boss, fear of sharing our faith, a co worker going through marital problems, a friend enslaved to addiction…what is God’s will? How do we respond in each of these circumstances? We need discernment…we need to know what to say…what to do.
And then there is just us…our own struggle with sin…our own marriage…the raising of our kids…the financial issues at home…how can we please God? How can our life best glorify Him? How can we live a life worthy of the Lord?
The Goal of this spiritual knowledge and discernment…
So we might...
God may choose to do these things in our life…for His glory…or He may not. But one thing we know for certain that He desires to do above all else…make us holy and pleasing to Himself for His glory.
Live a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him — The goal is that we might know the heart of God…become more like Him...obey Him…and be pleasing to Him.
Pleasing to God means…What this looks like...
Walk worthy of the Lord —
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Bear Fruit and growing in the knowledge of God — Obey God, learn more of God, obey God and learn more of God…that this pattern of life would continue as we are perfected in our life with Christ in heaven.
God wants us to grow up in Him and be a part of His plans…a part of saving the world.
Spiritual growth and our changed life are both a work of God...
Will-power, determination…decision of the will…will never lead to a deeper understanding of our faith or real change in our life…the decision to repent puts us on the road to change but it doesn’t change us…only God can do that…and He promises us that He will…Paul prays for the realization of such...
Being strengthened — A life pleasing to God can only be a work of God. There is no small power at work in and upon our life! The power of God at work on us is His glorious might!
Glorious might — The heavenly power to rule or control…The power of heaven…the power from which God’s sovereignty is known…is at work on us to make us strong…to make us pleasing to God.
God is exercising His heavenly power on us to make us pleasing to Him…our part is to pray for this power to have its work and cooperate with Him. So we might share in the light and be like Christ.
It is the power of God at work within us that reveals the truth and enables us to walk in it.
Conclusions
Conclusions
Again and again we have seen folks come along who want to add to the Gospel of Jesus and tell us of how we might enter a new kind of life…adding something to what has been done for us in Christ. But Jesus did it all...
God has rescued us from the power of darkness — He has transferred us into the Kingdom of Jesus.
He redeems and forgives us — God has done the work of saving us…our faith in His work makes us new.
Now it is the time to cooperate with the work He has begun in us and come to a deeper appreciation, understanding and application of what He has done for us...
We live as rescued, redeemed people for the glory of God. We exist for Him not vice versa…we live to glorify Him…we live to praise and worship Him…we live for His purposes and plans.
God chooses how He will get glory from us.
This is Spiritual Growth — We grow to understand more deeply what He has done for us…we grow to appreciate these things more…we grow to love Him more and this in turn leads us to obey Him better and bring more glory to Him.