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Author
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Topic: RETARDED GROWTH
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Eden
unregistered
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posted
Hi, WildB. The Cornelius Stam article said: "What joy and fellowship there is in gatherings where the newly-saved are present!"
Yes, that is true. But also "What joy and fellowship there is in gatherings where there are many mature Christians there who know the Written Word and have been listening to the Holy Spirit for a long time! They are mature brothers and sisters in the family of God.
with love, Eden
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
Hi WildB...I'm hoping you will enjoy this.
SERMON OUTLINES FOR
GROWING CHRISTIANS
By
STEPHEN M. HOOKS
Maturing in Christ
SPIRITUAL NEVER-NEVER LAND
Hebrews 5:11-6:3
Introduction
Peter Pan is J. M Barrie’s classic tale of a boy who refuses to become a man. In similar fashion some Christians refuse to grow up in Christ.
According to our text spiritual maturation requires a progression:
I. From Learning to Living
You are slow to learn … being still an infant … not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness (Hebrews 5:11, 13).
A. Some Christians suffer from a learning disability. This was the case for the Hebrew Christians.
1. The problem was not an intellectual one; it was spiritual.
2. Their ignorance was willful, evidencing itself in a conscious refusal to learn.
3. This resulted in an arrested spiritual development. They were still in grade school when, by now, they “ought to be teachers.”
B. Spiritual ignorance, willful or otherwise, is always treated as a serious problem in Scripture.
1. The prophet Hosea warns that “a people without understanding will come to ruin” (Hosea 4:14).
2. On numerous occasions Paul prefaced his teachings to the churches by declaring that he did not want them to be ignorant (Romans 1:13; 1 Corinthians 10:1).
C. True spirituality is a “subject” which cannot be learned in a classroom.
1. It must be learned experientially by living in right relationship with God.
2. Using the model of an athlete who systematically trains to compete, he suggests that righteousness is acquired through regular practice (5:14).
II. From Lingering to Leaving
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity (Hebrews 6:1).
A. Some Christians prefer the security of perpetual preparation for service to the challenges of actually living for Christ in a sometimes hostile world.
1. Instead of building upon the foundations of their faith, they continue to lay those foundation again and again.
2. Instead of seeking new experiences in Christian living, they are content to repeat the old ones.
B. A religion is a good place to hide from God.
1. Affirming doctrine is much easier than living in devotion.
2. Performing liturgy is much easier than practicing piety.
C. There is no “status quo” in righteousness.
1. To stand still is to begin to slip backwards.
2. As the author goes on to warn (6:4-12) arrested spiritual development may ultimately lead to apostasy.
Conclusion
Peter Pan is a charming plot for a play, but it is a crippling plot for a life. Those who follow this path never reach their spiritual potential. The gospel calls us to grow in Christ continually.
Illustration
As a college teacher I once enrolled a student in a class only later to learn that he had just completed a similar course at another college. When I asked him why he was willing to invest time and energy in a class he had already taken, he replied, “Because I know I can do well in it. I won’t have to study in order to pass.” Five years later, this same student was still taking classes even though he had enough credits to graduate. Preferring the inherent security of his educational “nest” to the unpredictable and imposing “real world,” he was intentionally prolonging the preparation phase of his life at the expense of the productive phase. Some Christians do much the same in the church.
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
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posted
by Cornelius R. Stam
What joy and fellowship there is in gatherings where the newly-saved are present! In the spiritual realm, as well as in the physical, everyone loves a baby! But the joy that fills the hearts of loving parents is turned to bitter sorrow and disappointment if their babe fails to grow. The latter condition is as unspeakably sad and embarrassing as the former is joyous. Just so it is in the realm of the spirit. The "carnal" Christian has failed to grow. He continues in a state of protracted infancy. He must be kept exclusively on a milk diet because, though saved for years, he is still unable to "bear," or digest, solid food, still "unskillful in the Word" and needing to be taught the elementary things.
Retarded spiritual growth is evidenced in many ways, all of which come under the heading of carnality or fleshliness. The Corinthians, so sternly rebuked for their carnality by the Apostle Paul, are said to have been careless about morals (I Cor. 5:1), puffed up (I Cor. 4:18; 5:2), inconsiderate of each other (I Cor. 6:1-7; 8:1,9,12), stingy (II Cor. 8:6-11; 11:7-9). While possessing the Spirit, they walked after the flesh.
One of the most marked indications of retarded spiritual growth is self-interest and party strife, as seen in the case of the Corinthian believers. They were spiritually small and petty, so that the Apostle had to write to them:
"For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
"For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?"(I Cor. 3:3,4)
Thus Peter’s exhortation to "newborn babes" to "desire the pure milk of the Word" that they may "grow thereby," is prefaced by the words: "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings" (I Pet 2:1). The carnal nature is not appropriate soil for spiritual growth.
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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