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] 0:35 praise the lord praise ye the lord 0:40 hallelujah brethren let us pray 0:46 daddy we bless you we praise you daddy we give you glory we give you 0:51 honor we give you all the praise father father please 0:57 take over this time today and open our ears 1:03 open our hearts open our minds to understand your word cause us to behold wondrous things from 1:10 your word father and give me utterance father god i pray 1:17 and let your name be glorified and let our lives be edified 1:24 in jesus name we have prayed amen 1:30 praise the lord beloved 1:35 welcome back to our living loaves of bread 1:41 podcasts uh we're gonna continue today from where 1:46 we had stopped the last time 1:51 as you know we had we have been speaking about 1:56 the different christian growth stages 2:04 and as we have already noted 2:11 the lord set this process of growing 2:20 it's a process if you're not adam and eve 2:27 that came full grown you have to start as 2:33 a newborn baby and grow same 2:41 process is with a spiritual birth 2:50 we have spoken about babies in christ we have spoken about little children 2:59 we've spoken about the young men and today we want to 3:05 go on to [Music] what you may call 3:12 mature adults or you may call them dear children 3:18 let me call them saints 3:25 and as we noted previously in a prior addition 3:33 these are not the only 3:38 classifications if you would of the christian grow straight stages 3:47 this is just one formulation of it 3:52 the lord could show you a different set of classification 3:59 so i'm not saying this is exclusive 4:07 so as we dive in today please get your bibles out please 4:15 please get your bibles out 4:20 because we're gonna go into what the word of god says 4:32 stage number four by this classification again which is 4:37 not an exclusive classification stage four 4:46 when we call this the adult or saints 4:51 or dear children yes okay 4:58 don't don't jump ahead of me i'm i'm [Music] we're going somewhere we're we're trying 5:04 to make this line up online 5:09 yes i know we are saints of god praise the lord 5:15 but i just want to read the scriptures then we'll go on from there 5:21 romans chapter 1 verse 7. the bible says 5:28 to all that be in rome beloved of god 5:35 called to be saints grace 5:40 to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ 5:46 that's romans 1 verse 7. first corinthians 1 verse 2 5:55 says unto the church of god which is at corinth to them that are sanctified in christ 6:02 jesus called to be saints 6:08 with all that in every place call upon the name of jesus christ our lord 6:16 both theirs and ours 6:26 both scriptures we just read state that we are 6:32 called to be saints 6:41 we are called to be saints 6:54 i'll leave that alone right there um ephesians five 7:03 verse one to eight i wanna 7:10 it's a little longer reading but i i want us to go through it 7:15 ephesians 5 1-8 be therefore followers of god as 7:23 dear children and walk in love ash christ also has 7:31 loved us and has given himself for us an offering 7:37 and a sacrifice to god for a sweet smell and savor 7:43 but fornication and all uncleanness 7:49 or covetousness let it not be 7:55 once named among you 8:00 has become its saints let me stop for a minute 8:07 and read that again but fornication 8:14 in all uncleanness and covetousness 8:19 let it not be once named among you as become its saints 8:30 paul is saying what the holy ghost is saying 8:36 what god is saying which is 8:42 as the saints of god 8:48 there are some things that should not be once 8:55 named amongst us that we are [Music] 9:00 into or that we are doing or that we are committing 9:07 it should not be named once not twice not three times it should not be named period 9:17 let it not be said that a saint is a fornicator 9:22 not once 9:28 now if you remember when we're talking about little children 9:37 first john chapter 1 verse 8 to 10 9:43 they often quoted and often abused scripture 9:54 that christians that have been christians for 100 years still quote for themselves 10:05 first john 1 8-10 if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth 10:10 is not in us if we confess our sins he's faithful and 10:16 just to forgive us of all sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness 10:30 the bible says in 10:37 galatians 10:42 chapter 5 verse 19. now the walks of the flesh 10:50 are manifest which are these adultery fornication and cleanness lasciviousness 10:56 and so forth 11:02 verse 16 same galatians 5 the bible says these i say then walk in the spirit and 11:07 you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh 11:15 so we can see that fornication for example is a work of the flesh 11:23 that's canality and we read in 1st corinthians 3 verse 11:32 1 2 3 and i brethren could not speak unto you 11:38 as unto spiritual but as unto carnal 11:43 even as babes in christ 11:49 paul said i fed you with milk and not with meat for heather to you are not able to bear neither yet now are you 11:56 able why verse 3 for you are yet carnal 12:03 so the babes are carnal because they are carnal they are walks 12:10 of the flesh that they might still be dealing with 12:16 but the saints that ephesians is talking about 12:22 ephesians 5 verse 3 12:27 it says but fornication and all uncleanness 12:32 the same uncleanness that galatians 5 19 talked about 12:39 the same fornication that galatians 5 19 talked about 12:45 was that was prevalent amongst christians 12:51 not adult christians but 12:56 babes and little children and christ christians 13:05 ephesians says let it not be once named among you 13:12 as becoming saints 13:17 as becoming saints not as becoming babies not as become it little children no no 13:24 no as become it saint let it not be named once 13:32 verse four neither filthiness nor foolish talking 13:38 no jesting which are not convenient but rather giving of thanks 13:44 for this you know that no homemonger zero 13:50 no unclaimed person zero no covetous man zero 13:57 who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of christ 14:04 and of god he said the same say you guys know this 14:15 the babes don't know this they're in christ 14:21 god knows where they are you have been saved for 100 years 14:26 why do you s keep trying to call yourself a babe in 14:32 christ why do you quote 14:38 scriptures that are forbade for yourself 14:48 you've been a christian for 70 years 14:56 and you want to act like a babe in diapers 15:06 no sir no ma'am 15:12 no josh hey i always preach to myself 15:18 always no josh 15:24 that first john chapter 1 8-10 no it's not for you 15:34 no it ought not to be for you sir 15:41 you've been saved for 20 years ma'am it ought not to be for 15:52 you oh well let me read on 16:00 ephesians 5 reference one to eight 16:07 let me read verse five or let me pick up by four again 16:16 you know what let me just back up to three what fornication and all on cleanliness and covetousness let it not 16:22 be once named among you as becoming saints neither feel 16:28 filthiness nor foolish talking no jesten which are not convenient but rather 16:33 giving of thanks verse 5 for this you know 16:41 that no whoremonger no unclean person no covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance 16:49 in the kingdom of christ and of god let no man deceive you with vain words 16:56 stop meaning there is deception in the church 17:07 the holy ghost says by paul verse 5 17:12 i'm sorry verse 6 of ephesians 5 let no man deceive you with vain words 17:18 empty words for because of these things comment the 17:23 wrath of god upon the children of disobedience 17:36 be naughty therefore partakers with them for you were 17:42 sometimes darkness but now are you light in the lord 17:48 walk as children of wrath of light let me say that again 17:54 walk as children of light we can be 18:01 children of light and walk like children of darkness 18:08 it's a contradiction in terms 18:19 the call to walk as saints is a call 18:25 to every believer and god has provided all that we need 18:35 to get there ah 18:43 i can hear the scriptures i can hear the scriptures say i can do 18:51 all things through christ 18:57 i can do all things through christ 19:03 let me say that a third time i can do all things 19:08 true christ which strengthened me philippians 4 13 19:15 i can do all things all things i can do all things 19:22 all things all things 19:28 through christ who strengthened me 19:39 my god has given us the ability 19:46 the ability to do what he says we can do 19:53 because the word of god comes with power jesus said the words that i speak unto you they are spirit 19:59 and they are life 20:04 his word is incorruptible he cannot die cannot decay 20:11 its spirit and life it has his own life in itself it doesn't need an 20:17 external source to give it power 20:23 because god never commands the impossible 20:30 ever never if he commands the impossible 20:36 after the command goes forth it is no longer impossible 20:42 let me say that again god never commands the impossible 20:50 because if he commands the impossible 20:55 after the command goes forth it becomes possible he told peter come 21:05 when peter asked jesus to beat him come and walk on the water 21:11 and when that command went forth to come 21:17 it became a possibility to walk on water 21:27 god does not command the impossible 21:34 because his word enables us to do 21:41 what we thought was impossible because his word 21:47 is spirit and life 21:52 beloved we need to get that again i'm preaching to myself 21:58 [Laughter] if you think it's for you you can you can have 22:04 some of this buffet 22:09 just enough to go around but it's a process 22:16 this growth stage is beloved it's a process and god knows it's a process 22:26 we cannot we cannot 22:32 camp out at first john chapter 1 verse 8 to 10. 22:40 which says i know you know it please forgive me for repeating it 22:46 if we say that we have no saying we deceive ourselves 22:52 and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us 22:59 from all unrighteousness if we say we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us 23:06 yes this is the word of god absolutely 23:11 but we cannot camp here we cannot stay here we cannot leave here we cannot 23:17 build a tower here we cannot build a denomination here we cannot build a church here we cannot 23:27 because the holy spirit true the same john continues in the same epistle 23:35 showing that he knows where many believers currently are 23:41 but quickly points out the imperative 23:47 the mandate the commandment to grow 23:52 in the very next chapter of first john 24:00 so that will leave first john chapter 1 behind 24:07 chapter 2 tells us to leave chapter 1. [Laughter] 24:14 oh my lord 24:19 first john chapter 2 verse 1 says my little children 24:27 these things right out unto you that you see not 24:35 says you are my children he hasn't disowned them 24:41 ah let me not get ahead of myself 24:48 my children my little children 24:54 i'm writing these things to you so that you don't sin 24:59 if any man's sin will advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous 25:09 then he gets a little tighter if i may use that word 25:16 or better still the holy ghost beats us come up higher 25:24 first john chapter 2 verse 28 to 29 25:32 and now little children abide in him 25:40 that when he shall appear we may have confidence 25:45 and not be ashamed before him at his coming hold on hold on hold on 25:50 let's digest that a little bit little children 25:56 abide in him in who in christ uh i thought they were in christ yes 26:03 they're in christ how are they in christ because god 26:08 the father translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of 26:14 his son the holy ghost is speaking and saying my little children abide in him 26:23 don't jump off that tree why 26:29 that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be 26:35 ashamed are you saying as a christian 26:42 i could be ashamed when christ appears and not have confidence 26:51 beloved some of us have been overconfident yeah i'm the righteousness of god in 26:57 christ jesus hallelujah 27:03 i have the righteousness of christ hallelujah 27:12 but are we deceived have we deceived ourselves 27:18 have we let our denominations oh lord help me deceive us 27:24 no no no no i'm not kicking against denominations beloved no i'm not 27:30 i'm not no sir no ma'am no 27:38 but have we believed the doctrines of man and not bothered to look at what the 27:45 lord said 27:53 ah [Music] i can tell you this 27:58 my brother my sister 28:04 jesus said in the book of mark chapter 12 28:10 verse 24 i love the scripture jesus told us the basis the 28:18 cause of all error 28:24 and jesus answering them said on answering i should say and jesus answering said unto them mark 12 24 28:32 do you not therefore air because you know not the scriptures neither the power of god 28:41 all error comes from not knowing what god said 28:49 or what god can do what he said 28:56 and the extent of his power some of us 29:02 know what men have said 29:08 some of us know the doctrines of our church some of us know the doctrines of our 29:14 denomination some of us know yeah these are the doctrines of the 29:19 fathers this is what jewish theologians believe 29:28 some of us know all that but have we 29:36 compared that with what the scripture said 29:42 or the scriptures have said have we compared them have we said 29:47 hold on hold on hold on i know you said that but what i'm reading here is contrary to 29:54 that 30:01 let me go back to first john 2 28-29 let me not digress and now little 30:07 children abide in him that when he jesus shall appear we may have confidence 30:15 beloved there's no confidence in sin i'm talking about being self-righteous oh no 30:21 forget that perish the thought that's a different topic on 30:26 righteousness but this is saying and now little children abide in him 30:33 that when he shall appear we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming verse 29 30:40 for we know that he that's jesus is righteous 30:47 for ye know that he is righteous ye know that everyone that dweet 30:53 righteousness is born of him 31:00 beloved i need you to to catch a word 31:06 right there the holy ghost says 31:15 verse 29 if you know that he is righteous 31:21 you know that everyone that do at righteousness is born of him 31:26 i needed to see that let me read it third time 31:32 forgive me forgive me forgive me let me read it a third time 31:39 if you know that he is righteous 31:46 if you know that jesus is righteous you know that everyone that do at 31:52 righteousness is born of him 31:59 did you get that okay let me let me just make let me go 32:04 straight to the point you know that everyone that do at righteousness is born of him 32:11 do it verb it's not a noun no no no no 32:17 he is not saying everyone that receiveth righteousness is born of 32:27 let him say that again the holy ghost did not say 32:32 everyone that receives righteousness is born of him that's not what he said 32:38 he said you know that everyone that do it 32:44 righteousness is born of him 32:53 verb beloved he's not talking about the righteousness that we received 33:00 he's talking about a righteousness that we are doing because of the righteousness that we received 33:13 that person is born of god the righteousness that we received is by 33:20 faith and this righteousness is talking about is a 33:27 work of faith it's not the self-righteous one no no no it's not the righteousness of the lord 33:32 no no no no no no don't mix it up that's a different topic god willing 33:39 by his mercy we may talk about that some other time 33:47 james says faith without works is dead if we receive righteousness of christ by 33:55 faith and we don't work works of that faith 34:01 the one we got by faith is dead oh help me jesus 34:14 beloved i'm preaching to myself so please don't get mad at me i know you i know you i'm just teased 34:20 i'm just kidding i know you you you won't be mad at me i know you won't 34:28 in the book of james it says 34:36 james chapter 2 verse 17 says even so faith if it has not works 34:43 is dead being alone yeah verse 18 34:50 amen we say i have faith and thou has faith and i have worked show me 34:56 thy faith without that works and i'll show thee my faith by my works thou believers that there is one god 35:03 that do as well the devils also believe verse 19 and the tremble 35:08 verse 20 but without no o vain man 35:14 vanity this is empty doctrine 35:21 ear candy it sounds sweet 35:27 hallelujah will jump on shout yes 35:32 i'm the righteousness of god in christ jesus that is true but don't forget the babies in christ 35:39 cannot handle the word of righteousness to get the 35:46 receive part uh somebody hasn't told him about the 35:53 fruiting part the production part the doing part 35:59 again we're not doing of ourselves because 36:04 uh we can only do it through christ who strengthens us and he has strengthened 36:09 us by giving us his righteousness help me jesus 36:19 let me go back to john or you know what before i leave that luke chapter 6 verse 36:27 40. luke chapter 6 verse 40. in mind of two or three weaknesses every 36:33 word is established let's go to luke chapter 6 verse 40. the bible says jesus 36:38 said the disciple is not above his master but everyone that is perfect 36:44 shall be as his master uh josh what are you talking about what 36:51 i'm talking about is what jesus said in luke 6 40 is the same thing 36:58 a corroboration to what john says in first john chapter 2 37:06 verse 29. 37:11 if you know he is righteous you know that everyone that doeth righteousness 37:17 is born of him 37:25 um let's read on first john chapter 3 37:33 verse 6 to 9. 37:39 it gets a little 37:44 hotter in the color start breaking out in sweats 37:55 because the holy spirit increases 38:01 raises the bar calls us yet higher 38:07 but we shouldn't be cut in a sweat if we know that we can do all things to christ to 38:13 strengthen yourself if we know we cannot accomplish anything of ourselves if we know that god has given 38:20 us all things that pertain to life and godliness he has given it to us already he has given us everything we need to 38:26 succeed he has given us what we need to do his word 38:36 god thank you lord it's not like the egyptian tax master 38:42 that told the israelites make such and such amount of bricks every day 38:49 but we won't give you what you need to make the bricks you go look for the straw 38:55 you go get the mud and make x amount of bricks every day 39:02 no no god is not an egyptian tax master no he's not the devil is a liar 39:08 if god says josh and needed to make two bricks a day guess what he has given me enough mud 39:17 enough straw and wisdom to make the bricks 39:24 oh he has oh well let me leave that alone 39:30 look at first john chapter 3 verse 6 to 9. this is the same john in chapter 1 that 39:37 said if if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves yeah yeah yeah the saint john 39:44 look at what he says in the same book two chapters down the same book 39:51 he hadn't put his pen down yet from his writing chapter 3 verse 6 39:57 whosoever abideth in him sinneth not remember now 40:02 in chapter 2 verse 28 he said and now little children abide in him 40:11 the ones that god grafted into his son 40:17 have been told to stay in the sun don't go 40:22 nowhere they have been told next chapter 40:28 if you are actually staying in the sun if you are abiding in the sun you will not sing 40:40 does that mess you up a little bit no he shouldn't 40:46 no you shouldn't no we've all heard john chapter first john 40:52 chapter 1 verse 8 9 and 10. have you heard chapter 2 28 and 29 41:00 preached like that repeat it like that have you heard first john chapter three 41:09 from verse six emphasized like first john chapter one eight to ten 41:14 it's the same author the same epistle the same book not 41:20 another book not some old testament obscure book no sir no ma'am the same book says 41:27 who so ever abides in him seen it not 41:36 whoso sin it has not seen him neither known him 41:43 verse seven little children he is still talking to this little children 41:50 i know where you are i know where you've been but this is where you should be going 42:02 verse seven first john chapter three verse seven little children let no man deceive you 42:08 he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he 42:14 is righteous the first he is you and me the second he is jesus let me read that 42:22 again little children let no man deceive you he that do it not receive it righteousness 42:30 he that verbs righteousness not he that noun righteousness 42:35 not the noun righteousness that we received no no that's a given that's free 42:42 he gave it no cost 42:47 but his son's life his son's blood was the cause 42:54 he that do at righteousness 43:02 is righteous even as he is righteous 43:09 ah help me jesus my time is gone again 43:15 beloved god bless you i have to stop here right now and pick 43:22 it up later god willing till next time god bless you my beloved in jesus name 43:29 amen [Music] 43:40 he is worthy [Music] 43:50 should give glory to himself 43:59 [Music]