Spiritual Growth

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Thursday, July 21st. Let's turn to chapter two of First Peter and see how you can remove the main stumbling block to spiritual growth. What evidence is there in your life that you are growing spiritually? Do you have a deeper hunger to know what this book teaches than you used to? Do you have a stronger desire to share your faith than you used to? Do you feel more confident when you go to God in prayer than you used to? Are you more concerned about the salvation of other people than you used to be? Do you love God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His work anymore now than you used to? Do you have a greater sense of loyalty to His church than you used to have?

Are you more excited when you hear somebody say than you used to be? Are you more contented around God's people than you used to be? Is there anything between you and God, the Father, that seems to be sweeter and more intimate and more contenting and more fulfilling than it used to be?

Are you still over here on the surface, activities, meeting these people, doing these things? And yet on the inside, you love relationship for Jesus. In fact, when I say intimate, listen, when I say intimate, warm, loving relationship, you think, hey, what does He mean, intimate, warm, loving relationship with a God who's out yonder somewhere in whom I believe, but warm, intimate, loving relationship? If you and I are not growing in the Lord, we are not being or doing what our Lord expects of us, because growing is a part of being a Christian. Now I want you to notice in this First Peter, back over in chapter two, remember now that He is writing to people who are going through persecution and are getting ready to go through severe persecution, and He's talking to them about how to prepare and what God has been doing in their life.

And in this first chapter, He's dealt so much with how God has saved them. And if you recall in verse twenty-three of chapter one, He says, For you've been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable. And if you've been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable. And if you've been born again, not of seed, which is perishable.

And if you've been born again, not of seed, which is perishable. Then He says, Therefore, chapter two, verse one, putting aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babes long for the pure milk of the Word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you've tasted the kindness of the Lord. Now there are many ways in which you and I may grow in the Christian life, but I believe that two of the primary ones are found in these two verses here in First Peter chapter two, verses one and two. And so that's what I want to talk about, spiritual growth.

So let me ask you this again, because I want this to echo in your heart and your mind when you go to sleep tonight. What evidence is there in your life that you are growing spiritually? Now, two things are really required here if you and I are going to grow spiritually. The first of all is we must be willing to deal with sin in our life.

Listen, therefore, therefore what? Based on the fact that you and I have been born again by the Word of God, He says we are to put aside, that is, we're to lay it down. We are to repent of it. And that word in the Greek means to strip ourselves of something.

We are to strip ourselves of what? All malice, that is, all wicked ill will that you would perpetrate upon someone else. All ill will, all malice towards someone else. He says, get rid of it, strip yourself of that attitude. All guile, that is, all deliberate dishonesty.

Any evidence of dishonesty? He says, get rid of it. And hypocrisy, that is, pretended love, pretended caring, pretended obedience. He says it's hypocrisy, get rid of it. He says an envy, that is, resentful discontent, envious of someone else.

He says an old slander, backbiting, lying, untruths about other people. He says now, therefore, based on who we are, put aside, strip yourself of all of these attitudes, all of these actions. And he says, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word that you may grow in respect to salvation. Now it's interesting to me when I talk to people who have been Christians for a long time. They've joined the church when they were children and oftentimes maybe a little older, a little later, and they go to church and they're satisfied just going to church. And yet there seems to be no hunger in their heart for God, no real desire to study the Word of God. I don't hear them talking about any kind of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

They don't have to use those words, but you can pick up whether it's intimate or not. I don't pick up anything that tells me they're excited about Jesus, about His work. No genuine concern about people being saved. Oh, they may love to see people join the church. But I have to ask myself the question, what is it that causes a person to keep coming to church, keep listening to sermons, and somehow there is no deeper desire for God, no hunger for Him, no thirst for Him, no real excitement about Him?

Well, I'm going to tell you what part of it is. Part of it is just pure old sin. My friend, you cannot grow in the Lord holding on to anything that God has put His finger on.

So let me ask you a question. In those periods when you're not growing in the Lord, what's going on in the inside of you? He says if you want to grow in the Lord, first thing you have to do is to strip yourself of those things God's put His finger on. He's talking about attitudes.

He says malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, and slander. If God brings something to your mind and He says, I want you to deal with this, it's not right in your life. You say, Lord, one of these days I am, and you bypass it, and you flip over it, and you go under it, and you go around it. I want to tell you something, the moment you pass what God has required of you, and you don't deal with it, at that moment you cease to grow spiritually. Now, you may get more active and more popular, but that doesn't mean you're growing spiritually. And I believe many people who are sitting in church pews who are not growing in the Lord, who are not spiritually growing in the Lord Jesus Christ, they have sinned in their life, they absolutely refuse to deal with.

And if you refuse to deal with it, you're not going to grow. Let's go back to Hebrews for just a moment. Hebrews chapter four. And I want us to look at, let me just tell you the background, then I want to point you to a verse. The whole theme of this chapter is the consequence of the unbelief of the children of Israel when God was going to take them into the Promised Land. And so, he says in explaining that in verse one, Therefore let us fear, lest while a promise remains of entering his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it.

Now, here's their problem. And this, listen to me, this is exactly what happens to many people who sit right here week after week. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also. But the word they heard did not profit them because it was not united, was not united by what? By faith in those who heard. You see, you're not growing spiritually simply because you come on Sunday morning and we share some principle of God's Word, you say, I like that.

I believe that. Did you know that that's almost meaningless until you unite the truth with faith in application of your life, you can listen and listen and listen and listen until sermons run out of your ears and not grow spiritually until you unite the truth and your faith in application of your heart. And that's exactly why churches are absolutely filled with people who are not growing in their spiritual life.

Oh, I like that. Oh, I enjoyed that sermon. We don't come to enjoy sermons. Now, I appreciate when you tell me you enjoy it, if you mean by that, hey, that really got to me.

But see, you're not listening for me, friend, you're listening for Him and for you. Now, when you and I have sin in our life, here's what happens. We can understand the truth.

Not all truth, but we can understand the truth and still have sin in our life. But it's really, it really has little or no effect upon our life unless I'm willing to mix it with faith and apply it to my heart. Then I'm going to grow because what I'm going to have to do is I'm going to have to deal with whatever God spoke to my heart about. But you see, if I simply listen to it and hold on for dear life and make it through the service without applying it to my heart and mix it and of no faith, I'm not growing. Did you know that Christian life is serious business with God?

And if you'll think about what He's invested in your life to grow you and me up, and you know, nothing so motivates me is to see somebody up in years and excited about Jesus and want to see somebody saved and love the Word of God and talking about Jesus and faith and what God's doing in their life. Let me ask you a question. If somebody hits you cold tomorrow morning on your job and say, hey, what's God doing in your life right now? I wonder how many of you would stutter. Well, what's she doing?

Now I hope that wouldn't happen to you. But He says we're to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me ask you a question. Has the Lord brought anything to your mind already since we started this sermon when we said in order to grow spiritually, we must strip off some things? Has He brought anything to your mind? Well, first of all, He says, if I'm going to grow, I've got to be willing to deal with what God surfaces in my life.

Strip off all malice and guile and hypocrisy and invincible slander, which He must have heard was going on among those who would read these letters. And then He says, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word of the living God. Now, so if I'm going to grow spiritually, the first thing I've got to be willing to do is to deal with sin so that my mind is clear and God can speak. And secondly, there's got to be a hunger for the Word of God.

Now, most everything else will be an overflow of these two, dealing with sin and dealing with the Word of God. He says as newborn babes, now, I want you to think about this. New mothers would know this better than our fathers would probably. A newborn babe does what a lot of, does a lot of what? Crying. I mean, you know, they just don't possibly want another feeding. You know, they clamor for it and they scream and they cry and they wake you up at three o'clock in the morning and all you have to do is just stick a bottle in their mouth and everything's quiet and peaceful for a little while.

Let me ask you a question. When's the last time you felt that kind of real hunger for the Word of God? Anything crying out inside of you, oh God, help me to understand this. Lord, soak my heart with this truth. God, help me to understand what You're trying to say to me.

Or do you just sort of have that passive idea? You pick it up and you say, well, let's see, tonight is Sunday night. Where was I reading last night? Oh, Jeremiah chapter forty-one. Oh, is your Bible reading, okay God, you know what I need today?

And you turn to some passage. Now, you don't have to answer this for me because I'm not God in your life, but I wonder this, I wonder how many of you have any kind of a systematic way of reading the Scriptures? You see, he says, as newborn babes desire, listen, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow in respect to salvation. That does not mean grow into salvation. But he says grow in respect to your salvation. Now, I want you to turn back to Psalm 119. And the 133rd verse of this Psalm says, and it shows us how these two go together, dealing with sin and delighting ourselves in the Word of God. Verse 133, establish my footsteps in Thy word. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Listen, establish my footsteps in Thy word. Do not let any iniquity have dominion over me. If you and I are in the Word of God, what we're doing is we're, listen, we are feeding upon the message that builds strength and grows the believer. I have never met a growing Christian who had a careless attitude about this book, never.

I've never met a growing Christian who had a careless attitude about this book or who just picks it up once in a while and just, you know, they say, Well, I think I'm going to read here tonight. He says, Like a newborn babe, long for it, hunger for it. And David said, My heart panteth after thee, O God, like the deer panteth after water in the mountains.

My heart pants after you, longs for you. You see, he's so willing to be so personal and intimate with you, if you're willing, if you hunger for it. So I want to ask you something.

When's the last time you had a real, genuine, warm, personal encounter with Jesus Christ that you will never forget? I know what some of you are thinking, you're thinking, But oh, listen, you know, I just don't have time for just laying around on your face. You know what? You have time to watch the evening news, which is usually bad. You have time to read your favorite magazine. You have time to go shopping.

And you take time more than likely to eat three meals a day has nothing to do with time. It has to do with my heart's desire for Jesus. And you see, I want God's best for you. And once in a while, my heart gets grieved when I see folks who have so much potential, but who are not growing in the Lord Jesus.

Their hunger level is not increasing. Their excitement for Him is sort of mediocre. So I want to ask you again, what evidence is there in your life that you're growing in the Lord? You know, God doesn't work in all of our lives the same way, and I understand that.

But you know what? You know whether you're growing or not, don't you? You know if you're really excited about Him or not. You know if the world satisfies you more than if God satisfies you. You know whether you'd rather be with folks or with God. You know whether if you get alone with God, you feel sort of empty and all alone and not know what to say.

Listen, if when you get by yourself on your knees and you feel sort of uncomfortable and you don't know what to say, it's a pretty good sign you need to stay there for a while. And get to know the Christ who wants you to open the door of your heart and let Him in. Thank you for listening to Spiritual Growth. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.