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Posted on 14 Oct 2018, Pastor: Tolu Makinde
Title: Growing Is A Must
Text: Luke 2:40
[Luk 2:40] And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Introduction
- The child Jesus grew, became strong in the spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.
- It is against the law of nature for a baby to not grow
- If a baby refuses to grow, the parent will take such child to the doctors to figure out what is wrong
- Lack of growth in the physical is unacceptable
- In Christianity, a believer must equally grow in the spirit
- It is against the law of the spirit for a believer to not grow
- If a believer refuses to grow, we should take that individual to Doctor Jesus in prayer
- Lack of growth in the spirit is unacceptable
- Unfortunately, we are accustomed to believers not growing and it has become the norm for churches to be filled with babies.
Main Topic
Lack of growth
- When a believer refuses to grow for a prolonged period:
- Such believer will be a source of headache to other believers.
- Acts 8 – Simon the sorcerer wanted to buy the gift of the Spirit with money
- Such believer cannot stand on their own
- Such believer will have worldly traits in their system, one foot in the church, one foot in the world
- Such believer can be carried away by false doctrines and teachings
- It will be easy for such a believer to backslide
- So, it is dangerous for a believer to not grow
- If you have been in the faith for at least 3 years
- You have never read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you are still a baby
- You are not praying daily for at least 30 mins, you are still a baby
- You do not have the Holy Spirit with you, you are still a baby
- Something is wrong.
Growth Stages of a Believer
- Baby Christian – you just gave your life to Jesus Christ
- Your desire for the Word of God will grow – 1 Pet. 2:2
- [1Pe 2:2] as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,
- Babies need milk to grow, therefore your milk is the Word of God, and you must desire it.
- Babies grow teeth to move from drinking milk to eating solid food – Heb. 5:13-14
- [Heb 5:13] For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
- [Heb 5:14] But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
- There comes a time when milk is no longer sufficient, solid food is needed
- That is when you start dealing with deep things in the Word
- When you see a 5 year old child still sucking the breast of the mother, it is not normal
- When you see a 5 year old believer still desiring milk (basic knowledge of the Word), it is not normal.
- As a believer, growing is must.
You are responsible for your growth
- It is the duty of your church, your pastor, your ministers, to help you to grow, but they cannot force you to grow
- There are 168 hours in a week
- We barely spend 2 hours per week at church, even that 2 hours is too long for some to give to God
- 2 hours out of 168 is 1.2% of our time in a week.
- How can a person spend 1% of their time in a week and expect a significant growth
- What you do with your time outside of church will determine whether you grow or not
Areas of Growth
- [Luk 2:40] And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
- You must grow in faith
- [Rom 10:17] So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
- The Word of God grows your faith and your faith helps you to please God
- [Act 5:42] And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
- You must hunger for the Word
- [Act 6:7] Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
- At the minimum, you must grow to become a disciple – a disciplined follower of Jesus Christ
- You must grow in Spirit
- You must grow in grace
- When you grow in faith and in spirit, you will grow in grace
Conclusion
- As a believer, growing is a must. You must grow.
- You must grow in faith
- You must grow in spirit
- You must grow in grace
What are you going to do with what you just heard?
- You can choose to do nothing and remain where you are
- You can choose to do something and you will go to your next level with the Lord.
Challenge
- Check your BP daily. No, not your blood pressure. Your spiritual pressure.
- Determine to read your Bible daily – no matter what.
- Determine to pray daily
- Fellowship with other believers.
- There are weekly Bible study sessions and prayer sessions.
- They are there to help you grow.
- Growing is not automatic, you must make up your mind and be determined to grow