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Discipleship One
Lesson 4
Introduction: We are going to discuss spiritual growth in this teaching. In order to understand spiritual growth, we need to understand a few spiritual things.
I. Two Spiritual Kingdoms
There are two spiritual kingdoms, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Satan is the god of darkness and Jehovah is the God of light. Matthew 3:2, Ephesians 6:12, 2 Corinthians 4:4
When we are born into Gods kingdom, we leave the kingdom of darkness (spiritually speaking). We are no longer of this world but are now citizens of heaven. Our life on this earth is short, but our spirit will live forever. Col. 1:13
Things of this world are temporary. Spiritual things are eternal. People spend so much time worrying about things of this life when it is the next life we should be concerned about because it is here that decisions will be made that will affect us eternally. 2 Corinthians 4:18II. We are a triune being (three part). We are body, soul and spirit.
Now may the God of peace sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Thessalonians 5:23
We are a spirit, we live in a body and we have a soul.
Body:
Our body is our earthly tent. 2 Corinthians 5:1
God formed the first one from the dust of the earth. Genesis 3:19
It holds our spirit on this earth. Without our body, we depart this earth.
It is only temporary.
When we die it will go back to dust.Then the dust will return to the earth as it was and the spirit will return to God who gave it. Ec.12:7
Spirit:
Our Spirit is the real us.
Our spirit has a soul.
It lives forever. Either in heaven or hell when we die. John 6:58, Mark 9:44, Matthew 5:19Soul:
It is our mind, will and emotions.
It is the part of us that thinks.
It is the part that feels emotions.
It is the part that makes decisions.
It exists after our death, continues to think, make decisions and have emotions. Luke 16:19-31(Story of Lazarus and the rich man dying and knowing each other and remembering their life while alive.)III. Spiritual Growth
Spirit: It is our spirit that was dead in sin that is born into Gods kingdom, which is the real us. Our spirit is instantly changed when we receive salvation. The work is complete. Our born again spirit is in right standing with God. It is in unity and fellowship with God. But it will grow stronger as we build ourselves up in the things of God. 2 Cor. 5:21
Body: Our body is flesh, it is not saved and will never be, but it has a born again person living inside of it. It also has the Holy Spirit of God dwelling inside of it. If we die before Jesus returns, our body will return to dust. If we are alive when Jesus returns then we will go up in the rapture and receive a glorified or heavenly body. We have to make our body submit to our born again spirit.
Soul: Our mind has to be renewed to Gods word. We have to learn all about Gods kingdom and his ways. We have to learn to submit our will to Gods will and not to our fleshly desires. We have to bring our emotions under the control of our born again spirit and under the control of the Holy Spirit. All of this takes not only time but also work to grow in understanding of the new kingdom we have been born into.
Spiritual growth is very important. We can never have a successful Christian life unless we grow up spiritually. We can be of no use to God if we don't grow up. When God starts looking for people to use, He looks for those willing to grow up in Him. How can we be of any good for others spiritually if we are spiritually weak and ineffective ourselves.
Just as a newborn baby must drink milk to grow, then begin to eat solid foods to continue growth, we must eat and drink spiritual food in order to grow spiritually. Gods word is our spiritual good 1 Cor. 3:1-2, Hebrews 5:12-14
As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. 1 Peter 2:2
Spiritual growth takes disciplined learning, time and effort but well worth it.
The more we study and learn Gods word the more we love it.
The more we spend time with God the better we know Him and the more we love Him. The more we love God, the more we love people. To love God and people is the greatest command.
IV. Ways to Grow Spiritually:
1. Gods word:
A. Read it.
B. Study it. (word study, topic study, passage study) We will learn more about this later.
C. Memorize key passages. Hide Gods word in your heart.
D. Meditate upon it (spend time thinking about it. This is when the Holy Spirit really teaches us the meaning)
E. Apply it to your life. Live it.2. Prayer: Talking to God, building a relationship with Him.
3. Worship: Growing in your love and intimacy for God, building a relationship with Him.
4. Fellowship: Spend time with people who encourage you in your spiritual walk. Avoid people who don't. Spend time with other believers. People will either pull you down or lift you up, choose those that life you up in the things of God. Attend as many church services as possible to grow and learn.
5. Action: Find a way to give away or share what God is doing in your life. Live out your faith.
V. Establishing a quiet time. (By now most of you should already have a quiet time but here are some tips to help make it successful)
A way to steadily grow in the things of God is to set time aside each day to do the things that it takes to mature spiritually.
1. Pick a time of the day that will best work with your schedule.
2. Decide how much time you are willing to give to your spiritual growth. The more time you spend, the faster you will grow. The less time you give, the slower you will grow.
3. Pick a place that is private so you will not be disturbed. Maybe it is best to let your family know that you are having a quiet time with the Lord and that you don't want to be disturbed.
4. Decide what all you will do during your quiet time. What all do you want to get accomplished.Satan will send distractions, phone calls, visiting friends, etc. You must be determined if you are to be successful. Satan will fight against your spiritual growth because he knows if you remain a spiritual baby you can do nothing to hurt his kingdom and he can continue to keep you out of his way. He knows if you grow strong spiritually, you will be a force to reckon with.
Consider these things:
There are 24 hours in a day, shouldn't we give at least one or two of them to something as important as growing spiritually, being that we are a spirit?
This life last on the average of about 77 years, eternity is forever. Shouldn't we spend time making sure we will spend that eternity in heaven and not hell?
If we are born again, we are citizens of the kingdom of God, shouldn't we spend some time learning about the kingdom we are a part of?
When we come into this world we have nothing and when we leave, we can take nothing with us except our spiritual growth and the good that we have done for God while we lived.
We spend a life time trying to get to know and build relationships with people, but how much time do we spend getting to know and building a relationship with the God of the universe, the one who created us?
We spend a life time trying to impress people but do we try to impress the very one that holds our destiny in His hands, both in this life and eternally.
Being born again is the single most important thing in this life that we can do, spiritual growth is second. In this life we make decisions that will affect our next trillion years and beyond.
It is not only important that we learn spiritual things for our sake but for the sake of those we love and for everyone that we will ever have any kind of influence over.
As far as spiritual growth goes, we can never remain the same, we are always moving in one direction or another. Either we move forward because we are doing something to make that happen, are we are moving backward because we are doing nothing.
Weekly Challenges:
Continue to read a chapter from Proverbs and a chapter a day from John 14-20.
Think of ways you can make your quiet time more productive. If you don't already have a set place and time, do that now. Pray and ask God to help you be faithful to your time with Him. Express to God your desire to learn about Him and the kingdom you have been born into.
Spend at least 15 minutes daily in prayer.
Operation L.O.V.E.: Call a family member that lives away. Tell him/her that you were thinking of them and that you wanted to let them know that you love and miss him/her.
Scripture Memory:
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him, who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9
As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. 1 Peter 2:2