Spiritual Growth - Perseverance needed
Spiritual Growth and the disciple • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 1:14:06
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Essential Elements
Essential Elements
This series has been a series thus far of helping the disciple of Jesus Christ to look within, make changes within so to be a fruit bearing disciple for the kingdom of God. Today we are looking at the need for the essential element of perseverance, but first some reminders.
I know this series has been a little different since we have talked about a few things that can even be taken over into worldly things.
Spiritual growth is a choice (2Pt3:18)
A choice to obey God’s command to grow
Spiritual growth is believing (Php4:13)
It is believing that we are capable of spiritually growing with God’s help, God’s power in God’s way and in God’s timing and for God’s glory
Spiritual growth is striving (2Pt1:5-8)
It is striving to develop Christ-like behaviors (graces) in our lives
Spiritual growth is determining (Rom12:3-5)
It is determining and developing our function within the body of Christ.
Spiritual growth developing (1Pt2:2; Php4:6-7; Heb10:24-25; Rom12:6-8)
It is developing good godly habits to be deployed within the body and for the body.
Spiritual growth is maintaining (1Cor15:58)
It is maintaining a positive attitude about our placement and our usefulness within the body.
(Transition) - this leads us to today, Spiritual growth and perseverance needed or in other words endurance needed.
Perseverance “hupomone” defined as steadfastness, constancy, endurance - Thayer bible dictionary
Thayer goes on to explaining “in the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and suffering.”
This grace, virtue of perseverance/endurance is an essential for spiritual growth and may we look at a few things concerning this today.
The need for perseverance/endurance
Maintaining perseverance (application)
The Need
The Need
Time, I think we can agree that growing takes time. With spiritual growth it takes time too. It takes time, repetition and activation constantly if we want to grow spiritually. So, perseverance is needed.
Spiritual growth takes time (Heb5:12-14)
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
Time is implied here “by this time you ought to be” that it takes time to grow, to mature, to go beyond the elementary principles. To go from milk of the word to the solid food for the mature (growing spiritually).
Time to learn
Time to learn the Word of God (expand how)
Time to learn what is expected as a Christian (keep His commands; expand)
Time to learn what areas of service are available that we may step into and serve the body.
Time to develop
To develop the Christ-like character we have discussed before, it happens overtime not overnight.
To develop our function within the body of Christ. To learn to develop our gifts/talents within the body for the common good of the body.
Unless we apply perseverance it would be easy to get discouraged, lose heart and give up before the growth happens. Cut yourself a break put in the time, time to grow, time to develop, time in deploying.
Spiritual growth needs, requires repetition (2Cor9:6)
Now this is a principle that is given in the bible that can apply to many areas, though in this case, in context, was used regarding contributions
6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
What are you sowing? Are you sowing God’s word in you? Are you sowing God’s word in others? Are you sowing financially for the body? Are you sowing time to learn, develop and grow spiritually? It does take repetition.
Repetition to overcome mistakes
We can all make mistakes, some from not knowing (spiritual babes)
We can learn to overcome mistakes by learning, developing and deploying repeatedly (in other words in repetition) so to grow and overcome those mistakes, hence growing from spiritual babe.
Repetition to see if fitted for particular task
Some mistakes can come because of inexperience in developing and deploying, while others are that we are better suited to serve in other areas in a different capacity.
We are not all gifted, called into service to do the same thing, the body is made up of many parts, each part is needed, they are different parts with different functions.
Repetition to hone your skills, talents (Eph5:17)
17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
We’d be a fool to assume we know the will of God without knowing God. We need to know God to come to know what God has skilled us, talented us in doing for the body. Sharpening our knowledge of God and then operating under the sword of the spirit (hum, hum, what is that? Its the word of God) so to know the good, perfect and acceptable will of God (see Rom12:2)
Repetition in deploying your gifts, to grow your gifts (1Pt4:10-11)
look how Peter puts it
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We sharpen our abilities within the body by deploying our abilities within the body for the common good. Unless we are persistent, we will never grow or progress. So, can you see the need for perseverance/endurance here? It is an important element for spiritual growth.
Spiritual growth can lose your first love, become lukewarm and regress when not put into action (deployed repeatedly) (Rev2:4-5, 3:16; Heb5:12; 2Pt2:20-22)
Spiritual growth is possible, but so is spiritual regression when we do not know, develop and deploy our gifts, talents, abilities within the body.
4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
(illustration) join gym, go on a diet, excited and go at it with gusto and then you slip from it an it looses its attraction at all and eventually go back the other way? (expand on this)
Spiritual growth we can lose our first love, as a church. You can read more on that in (Rev2:1-7)
And if that were not bad enough look at this
16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
This is a church at risk, lost first love, is not cold, is not hot, and lukewarm avails nothing. As a congregation we can become lukewarm if we do not know, develop, and deploy our gifts within the body for the common good of the body collectively.
The Hebrews were told they had regressed to the point they had to be retaught again (see Heb5:12); can regress to the point of leaving the body and going back into the world. look at what Peter says.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
Like physical health, our spiritual health, our spiritual maturity requires persistent exercise, or we can regress to a former state that is worse than the later state. Spiritual growth and spiritual health takes perseverance.
(Transition) So perseverance needed, it takes time, it takes repetition so not to regress, so how do we maintain it? Well that is what we are going to look at next.
Maintaining Perseverance
Maintaining Perseverance
To maintain something means to take care of something. We are talking about spiritual growth, spiritual maturity that takes perseverance and here are some suggestions of things to know and apply.
Know, deploy, display self-control daily
It is part of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal5:23)
(scripture below not on screen)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
It works hand in hand with perseverance (2Pt1:6)
6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
Self-control needs to be exercised daily, one day at a time. When exercised daily it produces perseverance over the long haul to spiritual maturity, spiritual growth
Self-control daily leads to good godly spiritual habits that lead to behavioral and functional goals that we have discussed in other sermon in this series.
Perseverance is applying self-control one day at a time day after day striving for the prize, and I will come back and talk about that in a few minutes.
Maintaining by associating with like-minded people (Heb10:36-39)
we know bad company corrupts good morals (1cor15:33) but you know good company, like minded company helps spur spiritual knowledge, deployment and growth.
Like minded people come to know and understand perseverance in their own lives and come along to help others as you can see discussed (Ecc4:9-12)
Like minded do not get discouraged, check out this passage
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. 37 For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith; And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
Your endurance coupled and encouraged along with others and we can achieve congregational spiritual growth goals- maturity, numerically, financially and in service to one another. So now:
Maintaining perseverance by keeping your eye on the prize (Php3:12-15; Heb12:1-3)
It was Paul’s aim, goal and should be ours too.
12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;
He pressed on, raced for, reached for the prize! He persevered!
Perseverance in maintaining it with an appreciation of daily godly habits. (1Pt2:2; Php4:6-7; Heb3:12-15)
Growing in respect to our salvation growing from being a newborn babe fed on the pur milk of the word. (re: 1Pt2:2)
Learning to be anxious about nothing, by prayer, supplication with thanksgiving , and the peace of God will guard your heart and your mind (paraphrase of Php4:6-7)
Look what the Hebrew writer said.
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”
We don’t want to lose heart, regress to have an evil, unbelieving heart falling away from the living God. But encourage each other!
We shall persevere when we keep our mind and our heart set on spiritual growth. When we know, develop and deploy what God has given us for the common good of the body.
(Conclusion)
If spiritual growth is going to happen it happens over time not over night.
It happens with the right heart with the right attitude with the right direction striving together. It’s starting off good and persevering when it is not easy and pressing on to the goal.
who we were and what we have done in the past does not assure us of spiritual growth and maturity today, it takes perseverance, endurance to make sure we do not regress.
A verse reminder before we close tonight
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
(Invitation- Gods plan of salvation) (Song) (Prayer) (Exit)