Spiritual Growth
The Marks of Spiritual Growth - Love
May 21, 2006

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35

Review: Romans 8:29…2 Corinthians 5:14…2 Corinthians 3:18…1 Timothy 4:7-8…Ephesians 4:15-16

1. Why did Jesus give love priority?

• Love is first and greatest.

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. 1 John 3:11

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Mat 22:37-40

• Agape love as contrasted with eros, phileo, or storge.

• God teaches us to love in order that we may know Him.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8

• Love is the bumper sticker of our faith. (John 13:35) Observable love is the most clear and obvious apologetic for our faith.

• Love is a confirmation of our faith.

We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. 1 John 3:14-15

• Love will lead to obedience and growth in holiness.

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. John 14:23-24


2. What does Christian love look like?

• 1 Corinthians 13 – The love chapter.

 The qualities pictured here are a picture of our Lord Jesus.
 This passage has been called the most beautiful in all of scripture and yet one of the most devastating.

• Verses 1 – 3: The supremacy of love over other things.

o Over spiritual gifts.
o Over intellectual powers.
o Over faith.
o Over material or bodily sacrifice.

• Verses 4-7: A list of love’s qualities.

• Love is patient.
• Love is kind.
• Love is never jealous, never envious.
• Love is not proud- arrogant, puffed up, conceited, self-important.
• Love is not rude.
• Love does not insist on its own way.
• Love is not easily provoked or angered.
• Love is not resentful. It keeps no record of wrongs.
• Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
• Love bears all things. It protects others.
• Love believes all things and hopes all things. It is always optimistic about its object.
• Love always perseveres.

• Verses 8-13: Love’s permanence.

o Love is superior to spiritual gifts, all of which will come to an end.
o Love is made perfect in eternity.
o The greatest is love.


3. Why don’t we love others as we know we should?

• Knowing that we are loved by God and others.

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19

• Inability to love ourselves.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14

• Judgmental attitudes.

• Fear.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 John 4:18

o Fear of rejection.
o Fear of criticism.
o Fear of painful consequences.
o Fear of commitment.
o Fear of conflict.
o Fear of abandonment.

• Self-centeredness. (See Gal 5:13-14 above)

• Overcoming the barriers.

o Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower.
o Trust God.
o Begin to act in a loving way, regardless of the way you feel.

Spiritual Growth
Growing Together
May 14, 2006

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Eph 4:15-16 (NLT)

Review: Romans 8:29…2 Corinthians 5:14…2 Corinthians 3:18…1 Timothy 4:7-8

The church is more than a building.

· Jesus died for us individually and to create a people.

He gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. Titus 2:14

· Three purposes of the church.

o To exalt God.
o To edify believers.
o To evangelize non-believers.

· God is not only shaping us like Christ, he is shaping us in such a way that we fit together.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Eph 2:19-22

· Our lives are intended by God to be ministries to our fellow Christians.

I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. Phil 1:25




The Biblical meaning of fellowship.



· Greek koinonia (1): To share together in the sense of joint participation or partnership.

o Sharing a common relationship that we as believers have in Christ.

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3

o Forming of a partnership with the objective of glorifying God.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Phil 1:4-5

· Greek koinonia (2): To share with in the sense of giving what we have to others.

o Sharing what God has taught and encouraging others.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

o Sharing of material possessions.

All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Acts 2:44-45

Growing together - necessities.


· The mark of a Christian is love for one another.

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34-35

· Share the truth of scripture with one another.

o Sharing what God is doing in my life.
o Life groups – supper clubs or sharing God’s truth?
o Reading and memorizing scripture together.

· Be open and vulnerable sharing sins, failures, and discouragements as well as blessings and joys.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16

· Be accountable to each other with a willingness to be checked on and challenged.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. Col 3:16

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph 5:21

· Pray for and with each other. (See James 5:16 above)

· Forgive one another.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Col 3:13




Growing together- biblical exhortations.



Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. Ecc 4:9

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom. Col 3:16

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Prov 27:17

If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Ecc 4:10

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thes 5:11

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Heb 3:13

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb 10:24-25

Spiritual Growth
Channels of Grace, Channels of Growth
May 7, 2006

Discipline (train) yourself for the purpose of godliness. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8


1. What are the spiritual disciplines?

· God-ordained means by which we bring ourselves before God, experience Him, and are changed into Christlikeness.

· Routines versus disciplines. Disciplines are something to which we submit in order to change.

· Categories.

Personal – Bible intake (reading, studying, meditating and memorizing scripture), individual prayer, fasting, solitude, journaling, personal worship.

Corporate (requiring others) – congregational worship, corporate prayer, fellowship, serving, stewardship.

· Other characteristics.

o Biblical.
o Sufficient.
o Unique.
o Practices, not attitudes.


2. Why should I practice the spiritual disciplines?

· In them we can experience God’s glory and grow in grace. (2 Pet 3:18).

· God’s presence and power are intensified in our lives.

· Trusting God that the spiritual disciplines, instead of being drudgery and a boring duty, will lead to a deeper love for Jesus and for our neighbor.

· Is the prize worth the pain? Paul would say yes:

You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. 1 Cor 9:24-27 (The Message)


3. What are the dangers of the disciplines?

· The spiritual disciplines are not by themselves the marks of Christlikeness as much as they are the means to it.

o Example of the Pharisees.
o Example of the cults.

· Only God’s grace working through the disciplines can transform those who practice them.

· The danger of imbalance.

o All the disciplines are important, not just a favorite few.
o The example of Jesus.


4. Practical guidelines.

Devote ourselves more to the pursuit of Christlikeness and the enjoyment of God through the spiritual disciplines than to the pursuit of efficiency and the completion of to-do lists.

Resist the temptation to believe in microwave spirituality or shortcut Christianity.

Read the list of spiritual disciplines. Do an honest self appraisal.


Brief Description of the Spiritual Disciplines


Bible Intake The most important of the spiritual disciplines. Nothing can substitute for it in our spiritual growth. This involves hearing, reading, studying, meditating, and memorizing scripture.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psa 119:105

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel. Ezra 7:10

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psa 119:11

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8


Prayer Prayer is talking with God about the things that are on our heart, offering praise and thanks to Him for His goodness and grace, and interceding with Him for the needs of others. One of the main reasons for a lack of Godliness is prayerlessness. Jesus expects us to pray:

Matthew 6:5-9 “And when you pray…” (Repeated in all four verses)

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Col 4:2

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thes 5:17

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Phil 4:6


Fasting Voluntary abstinence from a normal activity, most often food, for a spiritual purpose. (Examples: To strengthen prayer, to seek God’s guidance, to express repentance, to humble oneself before God, to intercede for others. Jesus expects us to fast (But recognize that there may be medical reasons why one could not participate in fasting from food):

Matthew 6:16 and 17 “When you fast…”

So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer. Ezra 8:23

Even now declares the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Joel 2:12

However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. Mat 17:21


Solitude To voluntarily and temporarily withdraw to privacy for spiritual purposes. (Examples: To hear the voice of God better, to express worship for God, to be physically and spiritually restored, to regain a spiritual perspective, to seek the will of God).

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Mat 14:23

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. Psa 62:1-2

It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles. Luke 6:12-13


Journaling A journal is a place to record the works and ways of God in your life. It is one of the best places to chart your progress in the spiritual disciplines and for holding yourself accountable to your goals. The primary Biblical example is David’s Psalms. It is a help in meditation, in expressing thoughts and feelings to the Lord, in remembering God’s works, and a help in monitoring goals and priorities.

For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Rom 12:3


Worship To give praise and thanks to God, to offer ourselves anew to Him and to hear His Word as it guides, comforts and encourages us.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23-24

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Mat 4:10


Fellowship Sharing of common life of Christ with other believers. God has made us in such a way that our fellowship with Him is fed by our fellowship with fellow-Christians, and requires to be so fed constantly for our own deepening and enrichment.

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Heb 10:24-25


Serving An outward demonstration of our love for our neighbor. Jesus is the example:

You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:13-17

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature[a]; rather, serve one another in love. Gal 5:13


Stewardship The disciplined use of time and resources to further the kingdom of God.

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Eph 5:15-16

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. Phil 3:13-14

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it. Psa 24:1

But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Cor 8:7

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Cor 9:6-7

Spiritual Growth
Transformation and the Holy Spirit
April 23, 2006

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Cor 3:18

1. And we all, with unveiled face…

· Spiritual growth or transformation involves all believers.

· A clearer apprehension of the covenant.

· Begins at conversion – a new principle of spiritual life.

I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. Jer 31:33

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Eze 36:26-27

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor 5:17


2. Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord...

· Spiritual growth results from a focused and continual gaze on Christ.

· Beholding the glory of the Lord in all His being and in all His works.

· Beholding the glory of the Lord in the gospel (the mirror).

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. Eph 2:6-7

* The gospel preaches to us that our sins are forgiven.

* The gospel preaches to us that the power of sin in our lives is broken.

* Cleansing our consciences from the guilt of sin must precede our efforts to deal with the presence of sin in our daily lives.

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[a] so that we may serve the living God! Heb 9:14

· The result of beholding is reflecting the glory of the Lord.


3. Are being transformed into the same image...

· Transformation is continual.

* From the Greek word form which we get metamorphosis.
* Occurs only four times in the New Testament (others: Matt 17:2, Mark 9:2, Rom 12:2).
* The difference between being transformed (2 Cor 3:18) and conformed (Rom 8:29) to the likeness of Jesus.

· God is not satisfied to leave us the way we are.


4. From glory to glory…

· Spiritual growth is a lifelong process and we never will never attain the goal completely in this life.

· Because it is a process, there will always be a conflict within us.

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. Gal 5:17

· Stages of growth.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. 1 John 2:13


5. This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

· The Holy Spirit is the agent for our transformation.

· The Holy Spirit uses means to bring this about including those He initiates (adversities, encouragement of others) and those He expects us to initiate (Scripture, prayer).

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil 2:12-13

· The Holy Spirit reveals what I am to put off and put on.

But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. Col 3:8-10

· The Holy Spirit reveals the graces and blessings which should and could be ours.

His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 2 Pet 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. Eph 1:3

· The Holy Spirit enables.

For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Rom 8:13-14


I can to some degree change my conduct, but only He can change my heart.

Transformation comes from a steady, concentrated gazing on Christ and a confidant relying on the Holy Spirit to effect the change. Oswald Sanders