The Growth from Grace to Glory

"THE GROWTH FROM GRACE TO GLORY" 1 JOHN 2:12-14 INTRO: The duty of all born-again believers in Christ Jesus is to grow in God's grace (2 Peter 3:18). The spiritual growth begins much the same as our physical growth. We begin life as babies and end this life hopefully as mature, well-developed individuals. The sad truth though is that many have been saved for years and are still babes in Christ. Pollster George Gallup is concerned about the maturity of American Christ- ians. Although 53% of the general public says religion is very important," he found only 13% who live the faith they profess. Gallup said, "There is not a spiritual vacuum in our country but spiritual chaos." According to his research, "Americans need instruction badly in Bible study, prayer techniques, and how to share the gospel. People are trying to be a Christian without the Bible." Gallup is a Christian who thinks Americans need more spiritual maturity because they have become consumer oriented and are practicing what he calls "a la carte religion." He further noted, "People want the fruits of faith without the obligations." Spiritually speaking, we need to do some growing up! (Raymond McHenry. The Best Of In Other Words. p. 240). In our text, John is writing to four groups in the Church. First, "little children," (v12). The Greek word means "newborns," "babes in Christ." Second, "little children," (v13). Here a different Greek word is used than in v12. The Greek word here means “an immature child." Third, "young men," (v13). The Greek word means "youthful, in their prime." And lastly, "fathers," (v13). The Greek word implies "being established, advanced in the knowledge of Christ." I want us to look at these four groups as we think about this subject, "The Growth From Grace To Glory." Each of these four groups refers to stages believers go through in their growth to spiritual maturity. (1) INFANCY 1 JOHN 2:12—“I write unto little children (infants, babies), because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake" *John wrote to this group to give them two things: A. ASSURANCE. The first step in the Christian life is receiving forgiveness of our sins by believing in the name of Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9; 1:7; 1 John 5:11-13). Thank God, for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ! John was writing to give them assurance, "because your sins are forgiven you…". He wanted them to know that they were no longer guilty of sin, or condemned for sin. God had “forgiven” The Greek word here means "taken away" their sins "for His (Christ's) name sake." What a joy and blessing it is to know that we have been forgiven and that our name has been written in the Lamb’s Book of Life! Our sins, which were many, are taken away. Isaiah 53:6 promises, “the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” ILLUS: In a Gospel meeting a penitent woman was seeking salvation. The evangelist quoted to her anxious soul the assurance of Isaiah 53:6, and led her to simply take God at His Word, and to depend upon Christ for the remission of sin. She went home rejoicing, but the next morning came downstairs with tears in her eyes. Her little boy, who had been with her in the meeting the night before, asked, "Mamma, what is troubling you?" "Oh," was the answer, "last night I felt that I was saved. But now it seems like a dream. I fear I am deceived." "Mamma," said the little lad, "get your Bible and turn to Isaiah 53:6." She did so, and read, "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." "Mamma, is the verse still there?" "Yes, my son." "Then your sins were laid on Jesus," said the wise lad. The mother saw the truth. She took God's Word without regard to her feelings, and then God's peace came to stay. -- James H. McConkey (Bible Illustrator For Windows. Version 3.0f. Copyright 1990-1998, by Parsons Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved). B. AWARENESS. John wrote to give them assurance. But the "little children" must be aware that just because your sins are forgiven doesn't mean the sin nature has been eradicated (1 John 1:6-2:2). The flesh is our enemy! This flesh is sinful! This flesh will destroy us if we don’t walk in the Spirit of God! ILLUS: Scores of people lost their lives. The world's mightiest army was forced to abandon a strategic base. Property damage approached a billion dollars. All because the sleeping giant, Mount Pinatube in the Philippines, roared back to life after six hundred years of quiet slumber. When asked to account for the incredible destruction caused by this volcano, a research scientist from the Philippines Department of Volcanology observed, "When a volcano is silent for many years, our people forget that it's a volcano and begin to treat it like a mountain." Like Mount Pinatube, our sinful nature always has the potential to erupt, bringing great harm both to ourselves and to others. The biggest mistake we can make is to ignore the volcano and move back onto what seems like a dormant "mountain." -- Stephen Schertzinger in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership. Now because of the forgiveness of sins, John said, the “little children” should grow in God's grace daily and move from the stage of infancy to the next stage of spiritual maturity. Why is it so important that we not remain a babe in Christ? Because spiritual babyhood has many disadvantages:  A baby always wants its own way.  A baby cannot learn difficult lessons.  A baby is apt to quarrel.  A baby is taken up with personalities.  A baby is possessive.  A baby always needs to be taught.  A baby plays when big things are happening.  A baby has no proper sense of values.  A baby frequently says the wrong things.  A baby is easily upset. The Church at Corinth to which Paul wrote had many of these problems why? 1 Corinthians 3:1—“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.” A baby is a wonderful thing, but God does not want us to remain babies forever but grow into the fullness and stature of Christ! (2) IMMATURITY 1 John 2:13c—“…I write unto you, little children (Immature), because ye have known the Father" *John wrote to this group to encourage them to have two things: A. A DESIRE TO GROW. The second stage of spiritual development is immaturity. To be immature means "not completed, still in the process of maturity." The difference between this stage and the infancy stage of development is that in this stage a person is more readily taught and receptive to the Word of God. For a person to move from the first stage of spiritual development to the second, he must have a desire for the Word of God (1 Peter 2:2-3). John is writing to this group in the Church "because [they] have known the Father." The word KNOWN in the Greek means "to take in knowledge, to come to know, to recognize, and to understand." It implies that growth in grace has taken place. A person is still immature, but has grown to some degree. Sadly, many Christians remain at this stage their entire lifetime instead of growing on to maturity. Why? Because instead of each day gaining greater knowledge of the person of Christ, many are caught up with the pursuits of this life. Jesus in the parable of the sower speaks about the seed falling among thorns. The thorns representing the enticements and entanglements of this life. The seed because of "the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in" Springs forth but is soon choked and becomes unfruitful. Many today are like that; they are saved, but the cares of this life has robbed them of their growth in grace. Often people expect pastors to feed sheep the same way you feed lambs, and that's the worst thing you can do. Grown sheep need to be shown the pasture for themselves. -- Stuart Briscoe, Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 3. B. A DEVOTION TO GOD. God wants His children to love Him and love Him supremely. He doesn't desire us to stay immature children, but to grow on in His grace and knowledge. The sure cure for a lack of growth in grace is a renewed love and commitment to God's will (John 14:15; Luke 9:23). ILLUS: Lee Iacocca was, at one time, an American folk hero. He engineered Chrysler's return from oblivion in the early 1980s but then Chrysler and Iacocca suffered some major set backs. Eugene Jennings, a Michigan State University business professor has extensively studied the man behind Chrysler's comeback. In the briefest summary of what he has researched, this statement may very well be the best analysis of what has happened: "He (Iacocca) is at his best when he's climbing the mountain. He gets careless when he's on top." Churches and Christians are at their best when they are "taking the mountain" for God. When we get too comfortable with our previous successes and stop climbing, we become careless. It happened to David with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1) and it can happen to us as well (Raymond McHenry. The Best Of In Other Words. p. 239). John wrote to this group in the Church to commend them for their growth, but also to encourage them to keep climbing! Notice, “Ye have known the Father," Ye have come to know Him more intimately and personally, but continue in that knowledge. Paul said "That I may know (Greek "to come to know by experience") him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." (Philippians 3:10). The growth from Grace to Glory is a path of continuing knowledge of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ! (3) INTENSITY 1 John 2:13b; 14b—“I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcame the wicked one…I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the Word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcame the wicked one" A. THE WARFARE. It is in this stage of growth that the evil one, Satan, tries to lure us hard away from our walk with God. This group had "overcame the wicked one." The word "overcame" means "to be victorious and conquer." Their victory began when they placed their trust in Christ and their sins where forgiven (v12), but their victory continues because of their life of faith (1 John 5:4-5). I call this stage of spiritual growth "intensity" because it is in this stage where the wicked one wars against us the most and where we must stand firm in our faith. When we are infants and immature we pursue many things that are vain, but when we become men and women of faith we put these things away (1 Corinthians 13:11). B. THE WEAPON. John says, these "young men" were "strong". The word in the Greek means “forceful, mighty, valiant, powerful." Why did they have this strength? John tells us, "…the Word of God abideth in you." God's Word gives us strength to overcome the wicked one as we learn, heed, and obey it! (Psalm 119:9, 11, 105, 114, 116). The abiding Word of God is the key to spiritual growth. NO matter what we think or say, there is no spiritual growth apart from God's Word! (Colossians 3:16; 2 Timothy 2:15). ILLUS: If you've ever been to Yellowstone National Park, you were probably given a piece of paper by a ranger at the park entrance. On it in big letters was the warning "Do Not Feed the Bears." You no sooner drive into the heart of the park, however, than you see people feeding the bears. When I first saw this I asked a ranger about it. "Sir," he answered, "you have only a small part of the picture." He described how the park service personnel in the fall and winter have to carry away the bodies of dead bears... bears who have lost their ability to fend for food. That's what's happening to us. -- Howard Hendricks (Bible Illustrator For Windows. Version 3.0f. Copyright 1990-1998, by Parsons Technology, Inc. All Rights Reserved). Hosea 4:6a says—“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”. Friends, many of God’s people are not feeding on God’s Word today thus they are dying. We CANNOT GROW apart from the WORD OF GOD! (4) INDESCRIBABILITY 1 John 13a, 14a—“I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning…I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning...” A. THE FAITHFULNESS OF THE LORD. Of all the stages of spiritual growth, this is the sweetest of all. Why? Because it is here that God becomes so real and precious to us. Not that He is not precious in the other stages, but He is so much more precious here because of our growth that has been one of dependence, strength, and victory has brought us to this point! We have tried him, tested him, and proved him, and he has remained faithful! John wrote to those who "have known him that is from the beginning…”. This knowledge they had was not from principles or philosophy, but of the knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ who has been from the beginning (John 1:1) by experience. Daily, they had walked with Him and trusted Him and He had never, not once, failed them!

B. THE FOCUS OF THEIR LIVES. They are feasting on the meat of God's Word (Hebrews 5:14) and continue to seek to know God more and more daily! They have:  Fed upon the Word of God.  Set aside time for prayer and learn to walk in prayer all day long.  Learned to fellowship and commune with God all day long, seeking for and striving after unbroken fellowship with God.  Witnessed to others of the saving power of Jesus Christ.  Been loyal to the Church-its members, mission, and ministry.  Committed their lives to ministering to those in need by prayers and gifts.  Given all they are and have to Christ and His mission to reach this world with the Gospel. That is why He is so precious. Why we call this stage the "indescribable." (1 John 3:1-3) It is because unless you are in this stage of spiritual development it is hard to explain. But even if we reach this stage, we must not quit seeking, learning and going after Him. Why? Because a lack of growth means death! (Philippians 3:13-14) CLOSING: The poet Henry W. Longfellow was on in years and his hair was white, but he remained a vigorous man. When someone asked him the secret of his vitality, Longfellow pointed to an apple tree in bloom and said, "That tree is very old, but I have never saw prettier blossoms on it than it now bears. That tree grows new wood each year. Like that apple tree I try to grow a little new wood each year." That is God's design for His children. Our souls have the capacity for unending renewal. Through life's experiences, narrow attitudes can broaden into greater understanding if we let them.

The Apostle Paul found his motivation for growing "new wood" in his relationship to Jesus Christ. He longed to know Him increasingly, not in theory but in reality. This meant reading and studying, renewing his mind, accepting life1s trials as part of the good that God is continually working out in his life, and holding his confidence in Christ. Worn Bible, prayer according to God's will, and trusting God in all circumstances are characteristics of Christians who are growing "new wood." Is this true of us? (Dennis J. DeHaan. Our Daily Bread. Volume 41, Number 11. February 24, 1997). Where are you in your "Growth From Grace To Glory"? Are you still an INFANT? Are you yet IMMATURE? Are you in the stage of INTENSITY? Or have you reached the stage of INDECRIBABILTY? "Continual growing in Christ comes from a deepening knowledge of Christ.” (Dennis J. DeHaan. Our Daily Bread. Volume 41, Number 11. February 24, 1997). How well do you know the One who has done so much for you? "Christian maturity may be tested in how one answers the following questions: How do I react to trials? How do I resist temptation? How do I respond to trials? How do I restrain my tongue?" (Lehman Strauss) (Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical. p. 130).