Stages Of Growth
Foundation Statement: When you’re born
again you resemble Jesus. You have all the parts he has, but your parts don’t
look like his parts, but you have the potential to grow up and
be just like him. There are stages of spiritual growth just like
there are stages of natural growth. Before spiritual development can
begin you must be born again. When you’re born again you are born a baby on the
inside. Next you become a child on
the inside. Then you become a youth. You are no longer a child, but you are not
a spiritual adult. To be a
spiritual adult doesn’t mean that you’re done developing. It just means you’ve
entered the final stage of spiritual adult. People assume time equals
growth/development and it does not.
You should be at each of these stages for so long and you should spend the
majority of your life at the stage of spiritual adulthood. The main way you go from stage to stage
is by feeding on and exercising the Word.
I. Stages of growth Be conservative about where you think you are in
terms of growth and development
A. There are stages of
spiritual growth just like there are stages of natural growth; The natural is a
pattern of the original which is the spiritual-1 John 2:12-14
1.
When
a baby is born in the natural, he has all the natural parts his parents have,
but those parts are underdeveloped and don’t look like the parts his parents
has in growth and development; That baby has the potential to grow up and have
it’s parts look just like it’s parents parts – Likewise when you’re born
again you resemble Jesus, but you don’t look like him in development; You have
all the parts he has, but your parts don’t look like his parts, but you have
the potential to grow up and be just like him-John 14:9-He that has seen me has seen the father
B. The first step every
human being must take before spiritual development can begin is they must be
born again-John 3:6-7
1.
A
physical baby who is not born can’t develop-It has to be born before it can
develop
C. When you are born again
you are born a baby (ON THE INSIDE); Babes in Christ is spiritual, not
natural-1 Corinthians 3:1, Hebrews 5:13
1.
Babes (Nepios)-Infant,
little child, minor, not of age, childish, untaught, unskilled
D. One of the next stages of
spiritual development we see is that of a spiritual child (ON THE
INSIDE)-Galatians 4:8-19
1.
8-11-This
is a group of people he’s poured into that are being tossed to and fro with
different doctrines; Their not babies, they’ve been taught some
a. 1- Child (Nepios)-Infant, little child,
minor, not of age, childish, untaught, unskilled
2.
12-15-The
respect for him is not there, they’re easily persuaded, being tossed around,
they do want the truth
3.
16-Part
of growing up is hearing something you might now want to hear and having
somebody in your life that will say it
4.
11-What’s
he laboring to do? 19-He’s laboring for their spiritual growth, for them to be
like the master
a. AMP-Until Christ is completely and permanently (formed)
molded within you
5.
19-Children (Teknon)-Little
child, teachers address disciples this way b/c by their instruction they
nourish the minds and mold the character of their students, child –
You’re not a baby, but you’re not a youth/teen, you’re a child
E. One of the next stages of
spiritual development is this idea of young
men/women (Neos)-Youthful, younger, young man,
recently born-Titus 2:1-8
1.
1-3-Sound
doctrine is simply good teaching-It’s the sound teaching that’s going to help
the aged men and women develop and grow
2.
2-This
doesn’t have anything to do with natural age; A 60 year old man can be a youth
spiritually and a 30 year old man can be and aged man spiritually; The
spiritually older should teach the spiritually younger – Should a 60 year
old man/woman who is recently born again teacher who doesn’t have much
experience with the word be teaching other people just because he is 60 –
NO-This is not talking about natural age-1 Timothy 3:6
F. The final stage of
spiritual development is this perfect
man-Full grown, adult, full age, mature-Ephesians 4:13-14, James 3:2
1.
This
doesn’t mean that you’re done developing or that you’re just like Jesus –
It just means that you’re a spiritual adult
2.
1
John 2:18-Fathers-Advanced in years,
one who has infused his own spirit into others, teaches, experienced
3.
This
is the stage you should spend most of your life at.
II.
How do you grow up
spiritually and progress from stage to stage?
A. People assume that time
equals growth and it does not-Hebrews 5:12-6:1
1.
Time
had past and they had not grown up – Time does not equal growth
2.
A
teacher would be somebody who is not a novice, not a baby, not a child
3.
Who
by reason of USE, not be reason of time
B. They are getting
corrected for being at a place of spiritual develop below where they should be
1.
God
expects for us to go from stage to stage and to grow up; There comes a time
spiritually where you shouldn’t be a baby, a child, a spiritual youth anymore,
you should be a full grown spiritual adult – You should only be at each
of these stages for so long
C. The thing that hinders
people when you talk about spiritual growth is they look at their natural age;
Just because you have an older body doesn’t mean that you are mature
spiritually; You can be born again for 20 years and be 50 years old and be a
baby, a child, a teen spiritually
1.
Servant-hood
does not equal maturity; Titles do not equal maturity; Coming to church does
not equal maturity; Time, titles, or how much you serve means nothing when it
comes to growth; Are you feeding on the word, practicing the Word, becoming
more like Jesus? If you are you’re growing, if you aren’t you’re not
2.
How
do we avoid being at a place of spiritual development below where we should be?