Bible exploration
Examining Christian growth stages
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0:01 all the glory must be to the lord 0:07 [Music] 0:16 no one on earth 0:21 [Music] [Applause] 0:28 [Music] 0:34 praise the lord hallelujah praise 0:40 ye the lord hallelujah 0:45 let us pray father we thank you and we bless you 0:51 thank you for this privilege of joining my brothers and sisters again 0:56 even to break some bread father please grant 1:02 utterance to me lord as i speak and grant us 1:07 all understanding in jesus mighty name 1:12 amen praise the lord god bless you brothers and sisters uh 1:18 this is brother josh i just want to share a few things 1:24 uh the lord laying on my heart to share with us today uh we're gonna be speaking 1:32 and uh looking at the concept or the topic 1:40 of christian growth stages christian growth 1:46 it's a uh you could call it a rough outline it's not 1:53 the only way you can look at christian growth stages 1:58 uh i'm sure there are other ways you could look at it this is just one way of looking at 2:04 it one metric one measurement if i may use that 2:09 expression 2:14 john chapter 3 verse 5 2:20 states jesus answered verily verily i say 2:26 unto thee except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot 2:32 entire into the kingdom of god john 3 and 7 2:38 marvel note that i said unto thee you must be born again 2:44 john 3 and 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever 2:52 believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life 3:01 jesus makes it clear that unless we are born again 3:08 we cannot see or enter 3:14 the kingdom of god he makes it clear we must be born again 3:22 no two ways about it that is why he came 3:32 4 verse 14 to 15 says 3:37 however that we henceforth be no more children 3:44 he is talking to christians i'm assuming 3:51 you are saved 3:56 ephesians 4 14 to 15 that we henceforth be no more children 4:04 we paul is talking to himself and his audience 4:12 and he assumes that they are saved as he's saved 4:21 that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro 4:27 and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of man 4:34 and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait 4:39 to deceive but speaking the truth in love 4:44 may grow up into him in all things which is ahead even christ 4:55 there is a message to the unbeliever 5:01 that they must be saved well 5:07 after we get saved then what 5:14 some of us believe us we say we are saved 5:19 and praise the lord we are saved 5:24 but that's like getting into first grade we're in 5:32 paul now goes on to say as we just read in 5:37 ephesians 4 further in order i should say 5:44 for us not to be tossed to and fro as li as children 5:51 we have to grow up into christ we have to grow up 5:58 we have to grow up now if you're not saved 6:03 and you're hearing this message we just heard what jesus said in john 6:12 the holy spirit speaking by paul in romans chapter 10 verse 9 and 10 6:18 makes it plain that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth 6:24 the lord jesus and shall believe in thine heart that god has raised him from 6:30 the dead thou shalt be saved for with the heart 6:37 man believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation 6:45 so if you're hearing me today and you're not saved 6:53 i have repeated what the scriptures say 7:02 first in john then in romans and in many other places i have not 7:07 mentioned but ye must be saved and it's 7:14 simple you confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart 7:20 that jesus is lord that god raised him from the dead 7:28 you shall be saved if you believe god could raise jesus from the dead you believe god can raise 7:35 you from your sins if you believe and confess the lord jesus 7:43 you confess that he's your lord just the way you have a landlord 7:48 so the landlord calls the shots the same way jesus 7:54 will start calling the shots in your life do you believe god raised him from the 8:00 dead the same way he raised him from the dead he can raise you from your sins 8:06 forgive you from your sins release you from your sins resurrect you from that grave where 8:14 sin and death has kept you 8:19 when you're out you confess jesus is lord if he's lord 8:28 he tells you what you have to do no no no no no no no 8:35 freedom is a myth 8:41 oh well it's too early for me to get in trouble 8:46 and digress if you confess the lord jesus 8:52 he is your lord and his name is jesus 8:58 so he will tell you and me what we have to do 9:07 that's salvation god raised him from the dead 9:14 and jesus is lord because if he tells you and me what to 9:21 do and we obey what he says we can never do wrong 9:27 it's that simple oh well the thief on the cross 9:35 believed in and confessed jesus one of the thieves i should say 9:41 the other thief miss his opportunity 9:49 luke chapter 23 verse 39 to 43 says and one of the male factors which was 9:56 hanged railed on him saying if thou be the christ save thyself and 10:02 us but the other answering rebuked him saying that 10:08 not thou fear god saying that saying thou art in the same condemnation 10:16 and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds but this man 10:23 this man this man has done nothing to miss and he said unto jesus lord 10:32 let me read that again and he said unto jesus lord 10:38 let me read that again and he said unto jesus lord 10:44 remember me when that comes into thy kingdom 10:49 and jesus said unto him verily i say unto thee 10:55 today thou shalt be with me in paradise 11:04 the two thieves on the cross uh who could preach a message on that 11:12 the two thieves on the cross 11:20 god loved them so much that he scheduled their execution 11:27 with the one that could give them eternal life 11:32 it has never happened before it will never happen again that you will 11:37 be crucified you will be on death row you will be 11:44 killed at the same time as the one that can give you life 11:56 god chased the two thieves down till their last breath 12:04 and one of them still blew it 12:10 below it i hope that will not be you today but let's not digress 12:21 you see if we do not die and go be with the lord 12:28 immediately after we believe in him we have some growing to do 12:34 yes sir we have some growing to do 12:41 we have some growing to do the thief on the cross 12:47 confess jesus as lord believed 12:53 that even after he died he would be with the savior 12:58 because he said remember me when you get to your kingdom he believed that he believed in the resurrection 13:07 and he died and his life on earth was over 13:13 but you and i are still here today so we have some growing to do 13:20 we have some growing to do well maybe i should just jump right in 13:29 well somebody may say well why is that important why why why do i have to know the growth stages i mean 13:36 what's the big deal about it 13:41 well 13:47 if you're used to wearing diapers as a one day old baby 13:53 and as a three-month-old baby and as a one-year-old baby i don't know 14:00 where it cuts up so if i you give a wrong age forgive me i forget 14:07 and i'm used to wearing diapers and pooping wherever 14:13 whenever when i want to if i want to 14:22 and i don't understand that i'm now 15 14:29 i shouldn't still be wearing diapers if i don't know that 14:34 if i think it's a norm that i should be wearing diapers at 14:40 one year and at 15 years something's wrong with me 14:49 that's why we need to know where we're going 15:01 let's do number one babes 15:06 that's pretty much obvious first peter chapter 2 verse 1 to 2. 15:13 first peter chapter 2 verse 1 to 2. the bible says 15:19 wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile 15:25 and he procrastinates and envies and all evil speaking 15:31 as new born babes desire this sincere milk of the word 15:39 that you may here's that word again grow thereby 15:49 that we may grow that we may grow 15:54 yes i know you're a christian that you may grow thereby 16:01 yes i know you accepted jesus 25 years ago 16:08 the word of god says that he may grow thereby 16:17 anything that is not growing 16:24 can be questioned as to whether it has life or not 16:32 even when the bible calls us stones it calls us living stones 16:38 because the stone has no life it's static 16:44 actually a stone by itself will wear down 16:49 from the elements corrosion heat rain sand 16:54 friction but the bible points out that we are not just stones 17:00 that but we are living stones 17:09 that we may grow thereby grow 17:16 that we may grow thereby hebrews chapter 5 verse 13 17:24 the bible says for everyone that uses milk is 17:30 unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe 17:40 okay let me start getting in trouble it's all right um 17:47 this is a recording so you can't hit me if you even if you 17:54 wanted to i'm just messing i'm just kidding i know 17:59 you don't want to hit me hebrews 5 13 18:06 for everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he's a babe 18:13 a babe is a christian 18:18 a babe is a christian let me say that a third time a babe is a 18:26 christian the same way a newborn baby in the hospital is a human being 18:34 if he's male he is a male 18:40 if she's female she's a female she's a human being he's a human being 18:46 because they're a babe you're not going to call them a goat you're not going to call them a uh 18:54 a cattle you're not going to call them a bird no yes i know he doesn't have a mustache 19:00 yet yeah he's a day old he's a male 19:06 more importantly he's a human being he's a human male 19:12 he's a human being but he's a babe 19:19 but hebrews 5 13 says the babe can 19:25 not skillfully handle the word of righteousness 19:33 so they can twist righteousness out of context they can they can twist it this way and twist it 19:40 that way because they can't handle it right but they're christian 19:47 but they can't handle the concept the word of righteousness right 19:54 yes i'm the righteousness of god in christ jesus praise the lord 20:00 yes i have the righteousness of christ praise the lord absolutely correct 20:08 but like we said in the intro if you haven't listened to that please 20:13 listen to that first the introduction podcast 20:19 you see the word of god always explains itself 20:26 checks itself expands on itself limits itself 20:33 so every word has some sort of 20:40 qualifier to it 20:47 now let me not run ahead of myself 20:56 the babe according to hebrews 5 13 21:01 he is unskillful in the word of righteousness forgive me from 21:06 repeating myself i'm trying not to hurry i'm trying to 21:12 kind of build gradually so please bear with me on that 21:19 now first corinthians three verse one to seven 21:26 let's let's read that quickly we got time brothers 21:32 till if jesus tarries there's no hurry first corinthians chapter 3 verse 1 says 21:40 and i brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual 21:46 but as unto carnal evilness unto babes in christ 21:55 again paul says as the holy spirit inspired him in verse 22:02 1 and i brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual 22:09 he calls them brethren the babe that just got born today in the 22:16 hospital is a brethren he's a fellow human being 22:24 but the scriptures are saying uh there are some things i can 22:31 speak to you my brethren babes in christ 22:40 things that are spiritual 22:48 verse two he says i have fed you with milk and not with meat 22:55 there's a progression here and the progression is of god 23:03 i want us to catch that the progression is not of man the 23:08 progression is of god 23:16 the progression is as a bay born 23:22 we can't eat meat yet we have to take milk it's a progression 23:33 there's trouble however if 23:39 the one that is on milk refuses to be weaned off of milk 23:47 that puts a cog in the will of that progression that god set in place 23:55 growth stages god put those growth stages in place 24:02 is his plan it's not josh's plan it's not paul's plan it's god's plan 24:10 if a child is born today in the hospital and you give them a piece of chicken 24:15 bone uh who does that 24:22 no they get milk i got milk you got milk 24:32 progression first corinthians 3 1-7 and i brethren 24:38 could not speak unto you as unto spiritual but as unto carnal 24:43 even as babes in christ now that's a little troubling 24:52 as babies in christ 24:59 we may struggle with canality 25:06 carnality babies in christ 25:14 babes in christ canality 25:22 the scriptures is letting us know that 25:30 christians that are 25:36 still babes may 25:41 struggle with canality it doesn't endorse it 25:47 the scriptures do not endorse it the scriptures identify it 25:53 the scriptures point it out 26:02 it's not an endorsement 26:10 is a status report it's not an endorsement 26:23 it's a report stating yeah 26:29 josh i know you're 26:34 a christian uh but you are still a baby in christ 26:44 and because you're obeying christ josh 26:51 you can't really handle the word of righteousness 27:00 righteousness is a whole nother topic but you josh you can't you you can't 27:06 really handle it you're not skillful in it in it yet 27:16 verse two second corinthians three verse two i have fed you with milk and not with meat 27:21 for heather though ye were not able to bear it 27:27 neither yet now are you able 27:32 i have fed you with milk and not meat for hitherto 27:37 up until now from when you were born josh till now from when you were born again 27:43 in christ i should say till now 27:49 you have not been able to bear meat 27:56 you've been drinking milk even now paul says neither yet now are you able 28:05 to bear it i'm trying i'm trying to i'm trying to give you some solid food now josh but 28:11 uh you still going back to the bottle milk 28:19 i'm trying to give you some cereal now something semi-solid you know 28:25 maybe sometimes i try to give you some some rice you know maybe some mashed beans or 28:32 something mashed potatoes something and down the road i have a chicken wing 28:38 for you but as i'm trying to trying to move you to more solid food 28:45 you're going back to your bottle of milk verse three first corinthians three 28:52 verse three for ye are yet carnal 28:59 canality will not let a believer grow in christ 29:10 canality will not let a believer grow in christ 29:17 for ye are yet carnal for whereas there is among you envying 29:23 and strife and divisions are ye not carnal and walk as men 29:34 verse 4 for while one says i'm of paul and another elm of apollos 29:41 are you not carnal 29:48 who then is paul verse 5 and who is apollos but ministers by whom he believed 29:55 even as the lord gave to every man 30:01 i have planted apollos watered but god gave the increase so then verse 7 30:06 neither is he that planted anything neither he that water it 30:12 but god that give it the increase 30:18 oh help me jesus 30:24 for a while one says i'm of paul and another i'm of apollos are you not 30:30 carnal let me get in trouble it's all right 30:35 for why one says i am a what baptist i'm an anglican i'm a 30:43 pentecostal i'm a methodist you know i am a church of god in christ 30:49 i am a feeling your denomination there 30:57 are you not carnal yeah yeah i know i lost some of you i'm 31:03 not trying to make you mad i'm just trying to 31:09 oh well jude 1 3 says beloved when i gave all 31:16 diligence to write unto you of the common salvation it was needful for me to write unto you and exalt you that you 31:23 should earnestly contend for the faith which was one delivered to the saints jude says to contend for the faith not 31:31 to contend for your denomination 31:36 help me jesus no no no i'm not saying denomination is 31:41 bad i'm not saying that please don't get me wrong don't get me wrong 31:47 no no no i'm not saying that i never said that 31:52 i'm just repeating what paul says for a while verse 4 first corinthians 31:58 chapter 3 verse 4 for while one says i am of paul 32:04 paul is the founder of my church i only belong to paul and another says 32:10 i am of apollos no no no my bishop is apollo i don't know paul 32:15 we belong to the apolites church then your own says no i'm of the polite 32:21 church paul says are ye not carnal 32:31 says the paul or polo 32:37 die for you oh well 32:52 a friend told me something the other day that that struck me he said believers used to have a 32:58 relationship with christ not the church 33:04 now believers have a relationship with their church and not with christ but i'll leave that alone let me 33:14 we're still talking about babes in christ babes in christ 33:21 babes in christ first corinthians chapter 1 12-13 33:27 now this i say that every one of you says i am of paul i'm of apollos and i'm of cephas i'm of 33:36 christ is christ divided was paul crucified for you or were you 33:42 baptized in the name of paul 33:48 oh well 33:53 growth stages beloved babes in christ 34:00 isaiah 28 verse 9 to 10 says whom shall he teach knowledge 34:06 isaiah 28 verse 9 and verse 10 whom shall he teach knowledge and whom 34:14 shall he make to understand doctrine them that are wind from the milk 34:24 and drawn from the breasts verse 10 for precept must be upon 34:30 precept precept upon precept line up online line 34:35 up online hear a little and there a little 34:44 beloved a babe cannot learn knowledge 34:52 beloved a babe cannot understand doctrine 34:57 that's why they can't handle the issue of righteousness skillfully as 35:03 we read in the beginning 35:09 of this talk 35:14 so what are we saying 35:20 all the scriptures we have read so far 35:25 show us that babes they are believers 35:30 they are not unbelievers they are believers they are in christ babies in christ 35:36 they are saved but they are not dead yet 35:41 like the thief on the cross they are not dying yet so there's not a 35:48 escape in this process no no no no no no you've been born in the hospital 35:54 you're not dying sorry not now the lord is not ready if he was ready they would have called you 36:02 so you're going to leave that hospital you're going to leave that maternity ward you're going to come 36:08 out you're going to leave the maternity world you're going to come out 36:19 let me say that a third time you're going to leave that maternity 36:25 ward and you're gonna come out to life 36:30 and grow 36:36 so babes maybe dealing with malice 36:43 maybe dealing with guile maybe dealing with hypocrisies 36:51 exeterior may not be 36:57 walking in righteousness yet yeah i know somebody's going to say uh 37:03 yeah i have the righteousness of christ i understand that we'll get into that i understand that 37:12 but they are not walking in righteousness 37:17 two different concepts also babes may yet struggle with 37:24 canality they can't understand knowledge 37:32 or doctrine yet yet 37:38 keyword yet because it's a process 37:51 let me let me stop for now on this topic 37:58 so we can pick it up next time god bless you 38:03 in jesus name amen [Music] 38:18 is worthy [Music] 38:27 should give glory to himself 38:34 glory must be [Music]