Growing in grace is equated with giving God glory. Now that is a very important comprehension. And frankly, folks, if you get that point, you're well on your way to understanding this process of maturity. The master key to all spiritual growth is understanding what it means to glorify God.
You've been buttoning your shirts, tying your shoes, eating with a knife and fork, and driving a car for years, no refresher required. That's how it usually is with the basics, though not necessarily with the basics of Christian living. John MacArthur shows you why today on Grace to You as he begins a study that takes us back to basics. It's a look at some of the most fundamental and important aspects of being a Christian. You know, John, some people might assume that a study on the basic doctrines of Christianity would have only minimal value for believers who've been walking with the Lord for years. But I know you would say the opposite is true, that mature believers are often the ones who benefit the most from a study like this.
Yeah, I understand that, Phil. I would also say that even mature believers don't necessarily have a refined understanding of all the doctrine, even the basics. And you could be walking in the Spirit and still be at the milk level of a doctrine rather than the meat level, which means you need to go deeper.
And I think, too, another characteristic of maturity is love for the truth. So when you introduce something that's foundational to a mature believer, it reignites their love and their gratitude to the Lord for what he has done. So I'm very excited about introducing the study back to basics, the ABCs of Christian living. We're going to scour the Bible to find the foundational elements of the Christian experience.
And once we've found them, we're going to dig down a little bit into them. The basics that we're going to be talking about are things like spiritual growth, glorifying God, confessing sins, trusting God, praising God, bearing spiritual fruit, obedience, prayer, spiritual gifts, and more. So you can tell that while these are basics, the subjects themselves can go very deep in enriching our understanding of all that the Bible says about them. These are the basics you build on and you never outgrow them, and you always feel like there is so much more to learn. So whether you've recently come to know Christ or if you've been walking with the Lord for a very long time, I think this study is going to be an excellent tune-up for your ongoing growth and usefulness to the Lord. Do not miss a day of this very practical study back to basics. Yes, friend, stay here to review or to consider for the first time some important habits you need to build to grow strong in Christ day by day.
To launch his study called Back to Basics, here's John MacArthur. In 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18, this is the last verse in the second epistle of Peter, it says this, The summation of what Peter has to say in this great epistle is that we grow in grace. Spiritual growth is basic to the life of a believer just as physical growth is basic to the life of a physical person. And God commands us to grow. Now, very simply stated, I want you to understand this principle. There is a master key to really understanding and experiencing spiritual growth. There is one master key that unlocks the whole thing and really in 2 Peter 3.18, it was subtly introduced to us because it says there, But grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then it says this, To Him be glory both now and forever.
Amen. Now, it's interesting to me that growing in grace is equated with giving God glory. Now, that is a very important comprehension.
I want you to understand that. This whole idea of growing in grace is related to glorifying God. And frankly, folks, if you get that point, you're well on your way to understanding this process of maturity. The master key to all spiritual growth is understanding what it means to glorify God. As we glorify God, we begin to grow. Now, let me show you that by having you look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18, a monumental text in the New Testament. 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18.
Now, notice this. But we all, speaking here of course of believers, with an unveiled face, in other words, the veil that was over believers in the old economy, the veil that the law had there, the veil that the New Testament removes by its marvelous revelation, with an unveiled face, no longer are things hidden from us, no longer do we have to search as the prophets did to understand what they wrote, but the veil is off, we behold as in a glass. In other words, we focus into a clear glass, and what do we see? We see the glory of the Lord.
Now watch this. As we, with an unveiled face, and the veil is taken off in the New Testament, and as we understand the New Testament and its great truths, we focus on the glory of the Lord, what happens? We are changed into the same image from one level of glory to the next level of glory by the Spirit of the Lord.
Now listen. The power behind spiritual growth is the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit that energizes our growth. It is the Spirit that gives life, and life is growth. So as the Spirit infuses our lives with His power, He will cause us to grow into the image of Christ, from one level of glory to the next level of glory to the next level of glory, but the condition is as we gaze into the glory of the Lord. Now listen. Summing it up, as you and I focus on God's glory, the Spirit of God energizes the process of spiritual growth.
So the point is this. To grow spiritually, you must then focus on God's glory. Don't worry about what the Holy Spirit does, and some people get too preoccupied with the Holy Spirit. Don't focus on what you do and get introspective and analytical. Focus on the glory of the Lord.
That is the thrust. That is the ultimate reason for living, and that is the key, the master key to spiritual growth. Now just to show you how important this is, I want you to see that the ultimate condemnation of man in history is because he doesn't give God glory. Look at Romans chapter 1 and verse 21. Romans 1, 21.
Now you'll remember that the Apostle Paul is indicting the human race for its defection from the truth. And in Romans 1, 21, he says here's the basic problem with man, because when they knew God... Now stop there for a minute. What do you mean they knew God? Do you mean all of civilization and all men knew God?
Yes, they did. Verse 19 says, That which may be known of God is manifest in them. By conscience they knew God. Verse 20, The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen. They knew God from creation. So man had an internal knowledge of God and an external knowledge. But when they knew God in that way, they glorified Him not as God.
Now there's the basic indictment of the human race. They failed to give God glory. Instead, verse 23, They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. In other words, they invented idolatrous human systems of religion. Now, man then, and I want you to watch this, man then abandoned the concept of the glory of God.
He abandoned it. Now when he did that, he cut himself off from spiritual life and spiritual growth. Throughout human history, God has endeavored to get man to see His glory, to reverse the fall, if you will, to change the reality of Romans one, not that man should turn away from the glory of God, but that he should turn to it. So all throughout biblical history, God is wanting men to see His glory.
Now let me show you this in a very simple way, and I don't have to turn to these things because we'll move through them rather rapidly. In Genesis chapter 3, you'll remember this. Verse 8 says that Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the cool of the day. The great reality of the Garden of Eden before the fall was that Adam and Eve lived in the presence of God. Now the Hebrews had a word for this. They had a word that meant presence, a word that meant to dwell or to reside, and the word was Shekinah. So that Adam and Eve lived with the Shekinah of God, the Shekinah glory. God is a spirit, right?
John 4.24. So God didn't have a body in the Garden. How did God manifest Himself? Well, I believe God manifested Himself in a glowing, glorious Shekinah glory of light, an almost incandescent and yet gloriously brilliant kind of light. I believe that God appeared in that way because that's the way we see Him appearing in other places in Scripture. And so there was this glow, this representation of God's infinite and eternal glory that dwelled in the Garden with Adam and Eve. And they fellowshiped with God. But immediately when they sinned, chapter 3 verse 24 says they were thrown out of the Garden. They were cut off from God's glory, cut off from the Shekinah glory of God, and an angel was put at the entrance of the Garden with a sword to keep them out of there.
This is the point. Fallen man cannot experience the glory of God. Fallen man cannot dwell in His presence. Fallen man cannot give God glory, cannot identify with God in His glory. And so they were cut off, and that was the tragedy of human history. Now watch. From then on, God endeavored to get men to see His glory.
And He's still doing it today, but let's see how He did it early on. Look at Exodus chapter 33, and I do want you to turn to this. Exodus chapter 33. The Israelites being led by a great man Moses. They have come to a crisis point in their life, having left Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. If there's anything God wants them to believe and God wants them to know, it is that He is a God of great glory. He wants them to see His glory.
He wants to go back, as it were, before the fall and again bring His presence to them and have them acknowledge Him for who He is. So in Exodus chapter 33 verse 12, God is communing with Moses. And God is saying to Moses, in effect, Moses, lead My people. Take My people.
Be their leader from here on. He already had that commission once, but this is a reiteration. And Moses is fearful, and he's afraid of his own inabilities. And so he says in verse 12, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. God, you're giving me a big job, and you don't even tell me who's going to help.
I mean, it's a little heavy for one guy, and some estimate there may have been as many as two million people. Now he says in verse 13, If I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee. In other words, God, I feel you're out there, and I believe, but give me a demonstration that you're going to be with me in this very difficult task. Verse 14, God says, My presence, My presence. Now people, that's the word we saw in Genesis. My presence shall go with thee.
Now what do you mean by that? What is your presence? Well, it was clear to Moses. Verse 18, he says, I beseech thee, show me thy, not presence, but glory. The presence of God was His manifest glory. And God says, I'll make all My goodness pass before thee. I'll proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, be gracious to whom I'll be gracious, show mercy on whom I'll show mercy. Now notice, God says, all right, you'll see My goodness.
You'll see My name, which is the embodiment of all My attributes. You'll see My grace, and you'll see My mercy. What is the glory of God? The embodiment of all of His attributes in some blazing representation of light.
God has reduced His attributes to a glorious light. And He says, Moses, I'll show it to you. And so in the rest of this little section, He tucks Moses in the cleft of a rock. Verse 22, And it shall come to pass while My glory passes by.
I'll put thee in the cleft of the rock, cover thee with My hand while I pass by, and I'll slip away My hand, and you'll see My back parts, but not My face. Listen, nobody could ever see the full glory of God and live, right? So God says, I'm just going to let you see a little of My afterglow.
That's all. But you'll see My glory. And He did. You'll notice at the end of the book of Exodus, chapter 40 and verse 34, that the tabernacle had been built. And when the tabernacle was built, it says a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Now listen, the tabernacle was a place of worship.
And the tribes all had a place around the tabernacle, and all the tribes were plotted out as a sort of a circle around the tabernacle, all facing that place. And deposited in the midst of it was the glory of God, and all these people had to focus in on it. They saw when it was completed how the glory of God descended. And the glory of God stayed in the tabernacle when they were to camp. And when the glory of God left and went into the sky, it became that cloud and that pillar that they followed. And then when God wanted them to stop, the glory came and stayed there. And there it was again as their camp met, they would be focusing on the glory of God. And so God had revealed His glory on the face of a man, in the sky and in the midst of the tabernacle. But in each case, they murmured and disobeyed and complained and griped, and never really gave God the glory He was due. Finally, they entered the Promised Land, and God said, I want you to build a temple. Look with me at 1 Kings 8 and see what happened. The temple was built.
And what followed that? Verse 10, It came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. And God is again saying to the people in the land, see my glory, focus on my glory, see who I am, and give me the proper reverence and worship. But He wasn't done.
There was one more time. Look with me at John chapter 1, verse 14. This is a tremendous text. And John is writing here about Jesus Christ. And I want you to see how John sees Christ.
John 1.14 says this, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Listen. And we beheld His glory. And what glory was it? The glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Listen. You know who Jesus was? Jesus was the glory of God in a body. He was the embodiment of the Shekinah. And if you were to read the 9th chapter of Luke, you will find that Jesus went up into a mount called the Mount of Transfiguration. And it says they saw His glory.
He showed them who He really was. And one final time, our gracious God said to mankind, Here is My glory. Will you give glory to Me? And what did the world say? We will not have this man to reign over us. He is of the devil, the prince of demons, Beelzebub, crucify him. And again they turned their back on His glory.
Tragically. But there's coming a day in the future when man isn't going to have that option. Because Jesus Christ is going to return and in Matthew 24.30 it says He's coming with power and great glory.
There won't be any options then. And finally He will be glorified. And that's when all of creation will sing glory to the Lamb. Glory to God. Ultimately He will have His glory. Now what I've tried to show you is in the past God has endeavored to get men to see His glory. In the future He will display His glory in a way that men really won't have any option. But what about the present? What about the present? What is the significance of the glory of God right now?
And that's the thing we want to talk about. In Ephesians 3 verses 19 to 21 He says, I want you to be filled with all the fullness of God. I want you to be able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think.
Why? Unto Him be glory in the church. Now listen to this. Right now the glory of God if it is displayed is displayed in the church. That's why Paul said of the Colossians, Christ in you the hope of glory. That's why Paul says to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6, For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shown in our hearts, listen, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. If the glory of God in the face of Christ is to be seen, it is to shine through us. And so the greatest calling of a believer is to glorify God. The greatest calling of a believer is what Paul said to Titus to adorn the doctrine of God. The greatest calling that we can have is to let the glory of Christ shine through us. And as we do that, as in this age we focus on glorifying God, we will be changed into the image of Christ from one level of glory to the next. That is the process of spiritual growth.
Now there's one other text that I want to give you. 1 John chapter 2. And this is a very, very essential text. Verses 12 through 14. Now here you have the three levels of spiritual growth.
And you ought to understand these. Our Lord even similarly speaks of three. There is the seed, and then there is the corn, and then there is the full ear. Three levels of maturity from an agricultural analogy.
Here you have it from the analogy of human growth. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. And here He sums up all believers under one term, little children, offspring. And the word for children here is a Greek word that simply means anybody who is born from somebody else. It has nothing to do with age. This term could refer to an 85-year-old person. He is the child of somebody.
It's non-infancy related. But then He moves to different terms. He splits the totality of the sons of God into three categories. Verse 13, I write unto you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, and here He uses a completely different word that means babies, because you have known the Father.
Then in 14 repeats a similar statement. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him that is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong. The word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
Now listen. Three levels of spiritual growth. Little children, young men, and fathers. What is a spiritual little child?
It says, verse 13, I have written unto you, little children, because you have known the Father. What is the first thing a child recognizes? Parents, parental recognition, mama, dada.
Unfortunately, it's usually mama, and six months later it's dada. But nonetheless, parental recognition is where it all begins. The thing about a child, they realize that they're a child of God.
That's about all. Sort of spiritual goo-goo, dada, mama. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so, and it never goes much further than that. There's a second level of spiritual growth. I write unto you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. Who is the wicked one? Hapaneras, Satan himself. How do you overcome Satan? Verse 14, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you've overcome the wicked one.
Now notice this. A little child does not have the word of God abiding in them strongly. They just know the basics. Consequently, they are the children of Ephesians 4, tossed to and fro as little children carried about by every wind of doctrine. In other words, they just know God. They just know Jesus. They don't know Scripture very well. That's why we say when you lead someone to Christ, what's the first thing you want to do?
Get them grounded in the word so they don't get tossed around with false doctrine. A spiritual young man is one who is strong in the word and has overcome the wicked one. In what sense does he overcome the wicked one? Satan is a liar.
Satan appears as an angel of light. Satan is the master of false religion. A spiritual young man knows the word is no longer a victim of false religion. In fact, I know in my own life as a spiritual young man.
I know the difference between that and being a babe. When I was a spiritual babe, I couldn't really tell what was true and what wasn't. I was in the euphoria and the honeymoon of loving the Lord and never really understood much theology and was easily victimized by somebody's whim or fancy. But there came a time when I understood theology, when I knew the word of God, and then false doctrine didn't deceive me, it just made me mad. And I've discipled people in that situation. And when they become a spiritual young man, they want to go out and fight the cults.
They want to straighten out the world. But there's even a greater level of spiritual growth than that. He says, at the beginning of 13 and 14, I write unto you, or I have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. Now listen, it's one thing to know you belong to the family of God. It's another thing to know the word of God. But it's another thing to know God, intimately and deeply. It's one thing to know the book. It's another thing to know the God behind the book. It's one thing to understand the page. It's another thing to know the heartbeat of the one who wrote it. Spiritual growth then goes from knowing you're a Christian to knowing the word of God to knowing God in fullness.
Listen to me. The way to really know God is to spend your life focusing on his glory. That's the thing that pulls you to that third level of spiritual growth. So that then becomes the focus of the believer's life. And as the believer zeroes in on this glorifying God, understanding the fullness of his person, understanding the fullness of his glory and gazing at that, that becomes magnetic and draws him up past the point of only knowing to whom he belongs, to knowing what he believes, and finally to know in whom he believes.
God himself. And that becomes the thrust of all spiritual maturity. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur.
Thanks for being with us. John is chancellor of the Masters University and Seminary in Southern California. Today's lesson is part of his current study titled Back to Basics. If you'd like a copy of this study to review yourself or to donate to your church library, it's available to purchase in a six-CD album, or you can download the series free of charge in MP3 or transcript format. To get a copy of Back to Basics, contact us today. Call our toll-free number, 800-55-GRACE or go to our website, gty.org. The six-CD album is reasonably priced and shipping is free. Again, to order, call 800-55-GRACE or visit our website, gty.org. Again, you can also download Back to Basics free of charge at gty.org.
That's true of all of John's sermons, by the way. Nearly 52 years' worth of them are free to download at our website. And if you're looking for gift ideas for Christmas, I encourage you to pick up the MacArthur Study Bible, the MacArthur Daily Bible, or the MacArthur Topical Bible. For a limited time, with each Bible purchased, we'll send you a free copy of the book, One Foundation. It's a collection of essays by gifted Bible teachers that was published to commemorate Grace to You's 50th anniversary.
So order now. Just call 800-55-GRACE or go online to gty.org. Now for John MacArthur and the Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson with a question for you. What should your ultimate purpose in life be and how can you accomplish it? Find out tomorrow as John continues his study, Back to Basics. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.
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