Spiritual growth is a command from God, not a suggestion, and is essential for Christian maturity. The sermon emphasizes that growth is achieved by diligently applying the Word of God to one's life, moving beyond elementary doctrines to a deeper understanding and practice of faith. It highlights that true spiritual growth is evidenced by aligning one's actions with their position in Christ, rather than by external factors like time, knowledge, or activity. The ultimate goal of spiritual growth is to become more like Christ and to live a life that glorifies God, which is made possible through consistent engagement with Scripture and reliance on the Holy Spirit.
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that the Lord himself had a sense of humor and I don't expect he expects us to be foolish but I think that since we have life we should enjoy that life not only serving the Lord but just being alive on planet earth and sometimes you have to be very careful what you hear I remember some years ago I was invited to come up to Rochester New York while I was living in Buffalo and about six months ahead. So the week preceding the Sunday I was to be there, the brother called me and reminded me that I was to be with them on Sunday. And I said, yes, I'm aware of that.
I had it right before me. I know where the chapel is. And I know the time of this morning meeting and I planned on being there. So we chatted a while. And finally he said, well, brother, he says, I'll see you on Sunday. I said, if the rapture doesn't happen, I said, if that happens, you may have to get yourself another speaker. He says, oh, he says, I hope not. He said, sometimes it's hard to get a speaker on short notice. So you have to have a circumcised ear to make sure, as the Lord said, be careful what you hear, but also be careful how you hear. So we have to keep that in mind. But first I'd like to thank Donovan and the conference committee for giving us the privilege of coming back into the St.
Louis area again. I think we were here for the first conference. Is that right, Donovan? And I think I was held over in Kirkwood. So I hadn't been in St. Louis prior to that time for perhaps forty years. I was stationed here in St. Louis during World War II out at Jefferson Barrett. Didn't know the Lord at that time, but I was here. But our brother John has started us off and given us the great positional truths that we have. It's an amazing thing that all that pertains to life and godliness all the spiritual blessings that God has given us in heavenly places. That's a position. We have that.
That position never changes. Sometimes our state changes. Sometimes the way we walk does not measure up to that. And I believe this morning that that's the cost. Many times we're not growing. See, we can be saved for years and not grow. I trust that every one of you, including the speaker, that even this day will bring a major of spiritual growth in our lives. And that's what I'm going to be talking about this morning. Spiritual growth or Christian maturity. And I'll tell you, as Brother John has said this morning, there's many things that's needed.
The old truth, the old path, we continually have to shine the light on them. But also we have to be reminded constantly that God does not suggest that we grow. That's the command of God. That we grow. And that we bear fruit. And that we be a light. That we be salt down here. And the only way that can happen is that we grow in the things of the Lord. And that's what we're going to be talking about. So we want you to turn quickly to Hebrews chapter five. looking at verse eleven through fourteen.
Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are a doll of hearing, for when to the time ye ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God. and are become such as need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is obeyed. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Then going over to chapter six, it says, therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ. Let us warn unto perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism, of laying on of hand, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do if God permits." So we see the writer of Hebrews, something that perhaps was the Apostle Paul. We're not sure. But he gives us some insight and he's speaking to us as Christians. And sometimes we forget that as Christians.
We think the whole Bible is speaking to the unsaved. It's like a person I asked some time ago, did he know the gospel? And he said, the whole Bible is the gospel. I said, oh no. The whole Bible is not the gospel. The whole Bible is the word of God. But the whole Bible is not the gospel. So the writer here is speaking to Christians. about growing he said when we start out as Christians we receive the milk of the word we receive the simple gospel that's what we receive when we respond to that in faith and we trust the Lord Jesus Christ we have eternal life then begins the greatest adventure I believe that a Christian can live getting into the Word of God and letting the Word of God get into them it isn't just enough that we know positional truth.
I'm often amazed the Apostle Paul, some of the greatest truths we find for his very short epistles. But in every one of his epistles, he gives you doctrinal truth up to a point. Then after he sums that all up and brings you up to the mountain of blessings in Christ, and then he takes the other part of the epistle, he says, Now here's what you do with your feet. See, sometimes we think when we're in heavenly places, we're up there lost stock and barrel. My feet are still here. I'm still here. You're still here. We are still here. And all that the Bible is trying to teach us as Christians, here's how we should live in accordance to that position.
In other words, it has to be two-sided. Sure, we must know doctrine. I'm convinced that never before... that doctrine determines behavior. What you believe determines how you live. Of course, today we're seeing people fall from that dead fat. They say, don't give me, don't give us doctrine. Just talk about love. God does not save us by his love. He saves us by his grace. The grace is the demonstration of his love, but he doesn't save us by love alone. And then the John text on also, whom the Lord loves, he chases and scourges every son that he receives.
Did he love us any less? No, the reason for that is that he does love us. I was sharing with some folks with me the other night. I met a person some years ago and they said, I've never been chastened to the Lord. I said, are you saved? First thing I said, are you saved? She said, oh yes. I said, they're not according to the Lord. Hebrews chapter twelve you can't be saved if that's if that's what you believe you can't be saved then we open the word of God who began to talk to her contrary so I never knew that before and I tell how long you've been and she's been saved for years so that meant she had not grabbed those truths that are practical to our Christian growth and experience as John has said believers do sin We do commit momentary acts of sin, but nowhere in the Scriptures are we taught that we have a license to practice sin.
It's not taught in Scripture. But the Word of God teaches us, if we do commit momentary acts of sin, we confess those sins, and we don't go there telling them about Brother Jones and Brother Brown and Sister Sally. We go to the Lord and say, I have sin. And we confess that sin. often just uses the crude illustration. I said, if I was standing at the judgment sheet of Christ and the Lord would say to me, well, Art, how'd they go down there? I said, Lord, I was doing great. But I got to St. Louis. And I met that character, David Foster. And he really got me turned around.
You know what the Lord's going to say to me? Art, David is next. I'm talking to you. I'm not talking about David or two, David. I'm talking to you and about you. So if I realize that if I confess my sin, doubt is faithful to death, to forgive me of my sin and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Now, you know, in a world who are living in a religious world, they don't even understand that simple truth. And because they don't understand it, they get off into false doctrine. It's like a person had to come to me and they said to me that we enjoyed your radio program, but you don't go far enough. I said, I haven't run out of the Bible yet. I still got a few more books back there. And they said, you don't preach sinless perfection.
I said, when's the last time you sinned? So I haven't said in eleven years. I said, you just bought your record. She says, what do you mean you just fall by record? I said, you just lied to me. I said, the Bible says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. If we say we have not sinned, we make a great mistake. Is that what it says? What does it say? You make God a liar. She said, well, God didn't mean that. I said, he did. I said, well, why didn't he put it in there? What do you mean?
Because that's what he said. See, it's in these areas. As we get into the Word of God. Now, God intends for every Christian to grow. To go on to maturity. A verse of Scripture that brings that out. Where it's not a suggestion. It's a command. Let's look at... Second Peter chapter three. Verse fourteen.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, talking about the urges we know it now being dissolved in our prospect of a new heaven and a new earth. And since we expect that, Peter says, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless. And account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation even as our beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him, has written unto us. John touched on that. The Pauline epistle. Some say, well, Paul was an old bachelor and Paul was all the rest of it.
But Peter acknowledged that the writings of Paul were from God. Peter acknowledged that. And you know, there's a lot of people that have a problem with Paul. I remember some years ago when the women's lib was on the move. And I never heard so many attacks against Paul. Paul was an old bachelor. He was a woman hater. I heard all those things. until one day I picked up a Christian magazine and had a cartoon in it. And we find the Apostle Paul pictured as a little fat, dumpy fellow, little fat with hair on the back of his head, reading glasses on every note, scrolls coming out under his arm, every direction.
The sign says to Corinth. He's met by a delegation of women carrying placards. Paul is a male chauvinist. The caption on the bottom, if Paul responds to them, he says, I see you've got my letter. And I remember I just rolled. My wife came in the room and said, what's funny? I said, read this. She looked at it for a long period. Then she looked at me and she said, what's funny? I thought it was the funny thing I meant for a long time. But the word of God tells us in verse sixteen, as also in all the epistles, speaking in them of things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware, lest ye also be led us away with the air of the wicked, fall from their own steadfastness. And I'm afraid today that I'm seeing many, many Christians falling from their steadfastness. Things that we used to believe now we're doubtful because so-and-so said on the radio or so-and-so said on TV and he ought to know. People have come to you and they say, now Brother Billups or whatever your name is, don't judge. Because you really don't know what God is doing. But we got sixty-six books to give us a good idea of what God is doing.
I have no trouble seeing what man is doing. I know what man is doing. I know what he's saying. But God has given us sixty-six books here that will take us from sin to salvation and from earth to glory. We don't need any other book. We don't need any other word except the word of God. So what Peter is saying now, but grow in grace. and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be glory both now and forever. To grow as a Christian is not a suggestion. It's a command. To study your Bible is not a suggestion. It's a command.
Study to show yourself approval. That's a command. That's not a suggestion. And we as Christians have to take this seriously if we're going to start making headway in our spiritual growth. Brother John touched on another thing. Where our heart is. If ye did be risen with Christ, it should affect you on things that are above. We're Christians. And when Christ who is our life shall appear in the clouds, he's going to lift us up and we'll be with him in glory. Now, I can hear somebody's mind going, I do not understand. This is one of the most heavenly minded brothers.
because there is a thing and I know you've heard it now brother you don't want to get so heavenly minded that you're no earthly good how many of you ever heard that well you know what the truth is you're not going to be any earthly good until you get heavenly minded you're not going to be any good down here until you get heavily minded and once you get heavenly minded you're going to have a desire to think like christ you're going to have a desire to walk like christ you're going to have a desire to know more about christ you're going to have a desire to know more about god himself and you're going to have a desire to know more about the holy spirit because all of these agencies have to be functioning to cause you to go and grow into maturity now you have to ask yourself this morning how long have you been saved are you still tampering with the elementary things.
I'm not making light of those things because we need those for a foundation. But there comes a time that we have to move on from the elementary things and get up into the truth of God's Word so that we can take the Word of God and have our conscious exercise by the Word of God so that through the Word of God we can determine what's right and wrong. You know many Christians can't do that? Many Christians can't do that. That's why they always, you come to a place or you go to their home and they're asking you, well, Brother Billis, what do you think about it? Do you think this is right or this is wrong? I say, well, let's see what the scriptures, no, I don't want to know what the scriptures, I want to know what you think. And ninety-nine turns out to a hundred, they're not looking for counsel, looking for agreement.
They've got some little shady area they want to drift off in and all they want to do is just give them a little nudge. Just give them a little nudge to get over the line. But when you look at the Word of God, the Word of God can plainly tell you what's right and wrong. But you have to be in the Word of God, learning how to apply the Word of God to our lives. And as we do that, we'll find that then we'll begin to grow to maturity. It isn't just enough to hear the Word of God. If we hear the Word of God and we don't become doers of the Word of God, in other words, we don't live out the truth, then we are deceived. we'd be saved. So in this whole matter of the Word of God, we have to make sure that we don't take a few pet doctrines and beat those all out of shape.
And sometimes Christians are famous for that. Sometimes I think even our assemblies are famous for that. That we take just a few basic clues and we feed them out of shape. And we never get to the other side, the practical side of it. So when we look at the Word of God, We know that that's God's truth. It's there for us to feed on. It's there to give us sustenance and nourishment that we might grow and that we might become mature. Then once we become mature, then God elevates us up and then we can begin to teach. Now this doesn't mean everybody's a full-time worker, but it means that as you grow in the Lord, there comes a time that you should be able to take the truths that you have learned and that have filtered through your life and share them with other Christians.
So we must get past just the word of God. It's like the songwriter says, beyond the sacred page, I seek the Lord. See, beyond that, we want to get beyond just the written word and see the Christ. My mother gave me some insight on that years ago. I was just a young fella when the war clouds were gathering, because most of you are not that old, so you don't remember World War II. But I remember some ladies being at our house. and they were talking about the war clouds. And one of the ladies said, well, I'm not worried. She said, after all, God is behind the scenes. And I remember my mother said, if that's all there is, then I wouldn't have much hope.
She said, but God is moving the scenes he's behind. And it makes a difference. That makes a difference. God is moving the scenes he's behind. So that's why we can look at this old Christ-rejecting world and all the turmoil that it's in, and we don't have to be biting our fingernails to the quick. And many Christians are doing that. We have nothing to offer the world because we're shook up. And we need to get into the Word of God. Many times in our sinlies, our young people are so shook up because they think that Stalin or Khrushchev or whatever his name is is going to push a button. He's going to blow up the whole world. We're all going to die. No such thing. I'm not saying they won't have atomic war.
I'm not saying that. They may have. But one thing I can guarantee you in the story of God's word, God will set this thing in order when he pleases him. A man is not about to destroy planet Earth, at least while we're here. Why do I say that? in first Thessalonians chapter four it says the dead in Christ shall rise first then we you and I believe it which are alive and remain remain where remain here now if we're going to be here when the Lord comes how in the world is crucial if anybody else going to blow us off planet earth they can't do it so with that in mind we can go home tonight and we don't have to take night off and just go to sleep and just rest in the Lord and rest in His words.
But again it takes looking to the Word of God, having your senses exercised and believing what God said, and applying that to your life. And you know what happens? That peace of God, in fact with all understanding, shall be your portion. You can't even explain it to people, but you can experience it. So, when we look at this whole matter of growing, spiritual growth has nothing to do with our position in Christ alone see because we look at these truths and we know that we're in Christ but that does not in itself guarantee us spiritual growth if that was true then every one of us would be spiritual giants but we are not all spiritual giants then the Bible tells us in Colossians two ten we are complete in him that God has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.
And how many of us look at the TV today and somebody, when you say you're saved and they say, are you sure you're saved? Could you receive the Holy Spirit? Then we get all itching. I don't know. Well, you come over to our meeting. Then you go over there because they're running around trying to take off with their hands up. Then you come back and say, well, our meeting is dead. They've got something we don't have. They don't have anything you don't have. They probably don't have what you have. But because we're not settled into the Word of God, we get all shook up. Then we want to bring all that erroneous stuff over into the fellowship. And then people will come among you.
We had a brother coming. I'm saying brother. This man came. He came among us. And he attacked at me. He says, I understand you people don't lie and you're shouting in this meeting. I understand that you don't lie, Mr. Billis. I said, you never heard me say that. I said, I'll tell you what. I don't care how much you dare. Swing on the chandelier, if you please. But when your feet hit the floor, walk straight. Because I can't check out on all these steps. But I can sure step out on the walk. But the word of God has given me how you're supposed to walk, but it gives me how I'm supposed to walk.
Right or wrong. So, first, second Peter one, three said, God has given us all things that pertains to life and godliness. So, that's our position. Our young preacher that spoke before John, David, he says in second Corinthians five, seventeen, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. That's our position. And you cannot add to that position. So don't waste your time trying. Just claim it. Because the Word of God has said so. Matter of fact, I wish I had time this morning. I could give you a long dissertation on the thirty-three blessings of salvation.
Thirty-three things that happen to you the moment you're saved. And you feel none of them in your senses. How do you feel to be justified? How does it feel to receive the earnest of the Holy Spirit? What kind of feeling you get when you have that? Do your left ear itch? Or your right ear? See, and I'm saying that because we're living today where people are looking for experiences. And I'll never argue about a person's experience. But what we are seeing, beloved, thrust it out as Christians is pushing experiences through the Word of God. And it's almost like they flake in your top fifth.
One guy comes into the meeting, he says, you know, I woke up this morning and I looked in the corner of my room and I saw twenty angels sitting on the head of a pen. The next guy stands up, he says, I know them all by name. And we get shaken from our steadfastness. We get shaken from our steadfastness. Just like that. Spiritual growth has nothing to do with God's favor. God doesn't like us any better, the more spiritual we become. John touched on that. When did God love us? When we're dead in trespasses and sinned?
When were we as enemies? God loves us. And he can't love us any more than he loves us. He loved us enough to send his son down here to go to the cross. To sinless ones. Being made sin for us. Bearing all the burden. taking it up on himself. He didn't have to do it. Nobody took his life. Nobody killed him. That's the great army. Who killed him? Nobody killed him. He was there by the predetermined counsel of God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he looked at the rejecting, Christ rejecting world in the face.
He says, nobody takes my life. I have the power to lay it down and I have the power to take it up again. Praise God He did exactly that. And we rest in that. And when He died for our sins, He died for all of our sins. Past sins, present sins, and future sins. Still I repeat, we don't have a license to practice them. So spiritual growth has nothing to do with God's favor. Spiritual growth has nothing to do with time. because a person can be saved for years and not grow. And you find some that come in to an assembly and they begin to grow.
And the old saints will say, don't run too fast now. Don't you run too fast. They try to slow them down. And you know what that young believer do? Many times he comes and he reveals that as a stagnation. He's alive and he's vibrant. And we should slow down. And we should be encouraging him to grow. And if he grows, you're going to be going. That's the whole scope of it. So it has nothing to do with time. And that's another area where people have fallen from their own steadfast. See, we have instant coffee, instant tea, instant cereal.
And we want to have instant growth. That's why you turn on your TV. And if you get in the line, and they'll zap you. And I've had people come and say, have you ever been zapped by God? I said, I don't want to get zapped by God. They said, why? I said, I know two people. You got zapped once. They haven't woke up yet. They said, who was that? I said, Hannah, nine to five. They got zapped by God, didn't they? So why are we going to waste time getting zapped by God? Bible to ever tell us to get zapped by God. He tells us to know God and to yield to God and to love God, to worship God and to serve God. He's talking about getting zapped. But all that is a shortcut.
See, that's a shortcut. And they'll say, well, they were filled with the Spirit. But the Bible teaches there's many filled with the Spirit. Be ye being filled with the Spirit. That's a command also. I like to use the word control. Be controlled by the Spirit of God rather than being healed because we get that, when we use that particular term, we get kind of mystical. But the Bible simply says being controlled continually by the Spirit of God. So it has nothing to do with time. Spiritual growth in itself has nothing to do with knowledge. You ever hear sometime a person get up and he afraid he can call God by all his names?
Dear most noble esteem, high, omnipotent God. And when he shuts it down and gets up, he can't love you. So knowing all of this stuff, knowledge puffs it up. But when we have knowledge that's applied, it has to be applied to our lives. It has to be applied to our fellowships. has to be applied in the world. See, when the world, we go out among the world, we don't want to go out there talking about blood wiser, good or bad. What we have to do is convince the world that we love them and that we love one another. John thirteen, thirty-four and thirty-five says, By this shall all men know that you're my disciples.
If you have love, one for another. And for us to love it takes spiritual growth. Otherwise, we're babies. You ever be playing marbles when you're the kid and the kid said, well, wait a minute. These are my marbles. And if you don't play it according to my rules, I'll go home. I used to do that. Wait a minute. If you don't play it, wait a minute. I'm going to change the rule right now. And if you don't play it my way, I'm taking the ball, go. But many Christians play that. Well, if they, if I go there and they don't appreciate me, I'm going down the road. I'll even start another meeting. you know what that is immaturity nothing spiritual about that so spiritual growth has nothing to do with knowledge by itself spiritual growth has nothing to do with activity see a lot of times we think the most spiritual Christians is the ones running around doing we should do don't get me wrong but we find in Matthew chapter seven, verses twenty one through twenty three.
He says, many in that day will send to me, Lord, Lord, haven't we been real busy? Haven't we built all these wonderful buildings? Haven't we started all these wonderful ministry? Haven't we done all these wonderful works in your name? And the Lord will say, depart from me. I never knew you, you workers of iniquity. You said, but they were busy. But you see, it didn't bring spiritual growth because it didn't even bring salvation. And only a Christian can grow. So we have to be careful in the works. Now works have a place. None of us are working to be saved.
But we're working because we are saved. We got to keep the cart before the horse. I'm not preaching because I love to preach necessarily. I'm preaching because I love the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to love Him. And I want you to obey. And I want you to serve Him. I want us to glorify Him in the assembly and in our lives. And then we can only do that as we go on to maturity. Spiritual growth has nothing to do with prosperity or possession. Because a lot of times we can approach and we can come and show you a big balancing check.
We say, Lord, sure has blessed me. Well, he sure must have forgot about the Apostle Paul. But Paul mentioned the fact. He says, I know how to abound. I know how to suffer needs. I know how it is to be full. Like I have to loosen my belt. And I know what it is to be hungry. Paul says, having nothing. And yet possessing all things. And you can use that scripture to repeat the devil to death. When he comes and says, look. If you don't, if you go serve the Lord, you'll take everything from him. You say, I don't have anything. Then if you go serve the devil, he'll give you everything.
He's already have everything. See, that's how the scripture can be applied to your life. And so spiritual growth has nothing to do with material things or big bank accounts. But I thank God for those people who have money. I just trusted their wives' stewards with it. that they use it for the glory of God. And I know sometimes people want us to bring tithing into the assembly. But I don't think it's a matter of giving Lord ten percent or twenty percent. I don't think it's a matter of how much we're going to give the Lord, really. I think it's a matter of how much the Lord's money we're going to keep for ourselves. We never get that decided, Lord, to get his portion. So simply put, spiritual growth is simply matching our practice with our position.
We have to match our practice with our position. And when we do that, that's our evidence of spiritual growth. So all these positions of truth we have, we have to match it up with our practice. And if you look at the writings of Paul, that's the way he puts it down. and then as we look to the word of God Romans twelve two says being transformed having our minds transformed by the word of God as a man thinker so is he second Corinthians seven one says perfecting holiness laying aside all the filthings of the flesh and the spirit it took me a long time to see what God was saying there see there's there's sins in our life Some of us out were sins of the flesh.
That's the prodigal son. They had no problem in what he was doing. The elder brother, he had a sin of the Spirit. And those are hard to pick up. But the Lord picked it up. Because he said, look, I've been here all the time. He was hot under the collar. That was his problem. He said, he went out there and he went down to the big bin. And he took all of your money down there and spent it on that ride of living. And he comes back. If you have a party for him. But isn't what the scripture says? Whenever one rejoices, what are we all to do? Rejoice, that's good. Take spirituality to do that. And there he was with that old hard, unforgiving, covetous spirit.
But it took the Lord himself to reveal it. So let's be careful in our lives, not just so much for the sins of the flesh, because many times we're not going to be caught up in that. But we're going to get caught up in the sins of the Spirit. Whenever we're supposed to be forgiving, I had a brother say to another brother we were counseling with, and he says, I'll forgive you after I see how you do. I said, Brother, I'm glad the Lord didn't deal with me that way. I'm glad the Lord said, alright, I just forgive you, and I accept you into my family, and you're my child, and I love you, in spite of yourself. I'm glad the Lord didn't wait until I got like him. give you the way that God like him, he never came here.
Right? But we have to be spiritual enough to see these things work out in our lives. Then we find the Bible is the only thing that can bring spiritual growth. And the reason it brings spiritual growth is because it brings spiritual life. You think you could be born again apart from the Word of God? You can't be born again apart from the Word of God. It takes the Word of God. And the Word of God has life in it. It isn't yet life, but it has life in it. And that's one of the amazing things that whenever any seed has the power within itself to reproduce itself. And that's what the Word of God can do.
When we study the Word of God, the Word of God can reproduce in us the very life of God. It brings us to Christ in salvation. But as we study the Word of God and the Word of God finds root in our heart by the Holy Spirit, then it produces the great character of Jesus Christ in us. And really you realize that that's what God is working at. I don't know what we're doing. And sometimes we work counter to God. God's working to conform us to the image of his Son. That's what God is doing. And that's what we better be doing. We better be getting a step with God. so that we can mature and become more like our blessed savior the lord jesus christ and then the bible refers to the bible as the word of life but before it tells us that it says do all faith without murmuring and disputing now when you have murmuring disputings in your own life and you have murmuring disputings in the fellowship what's the reason for that immaturity in maturity.
And how much we have left? I tell you, it just breaks my heart as I travel around the country and go to a meeting that maybe hasn't been there for several years, and you look there and you see how the people are gone? And you say, where did the rest of them go? Did they die? Go to be with the Lord? No, they're down on the other corner. What happened? Well, we had a little strife come in here. And we're never going to get it solved. That's not spirituality. That's not spirituality. In other words, when the Bible tells us to forgive one another, be kind and tenderhearted and forgive one another as God for Christ's sake has forgiven us. That's spirituality.
Then you say, how many times should I forgive? Well, I don't know number why, but I know if I look at what the Lord Jesus Christ said, I can pinpoint four hundred ninety times we're supposed to do it. But I think to connotation, just keep on doing it. Just keep on forgiving in spite of it. and that's where the maturing comes in but once we do that he said now we can hold forth the word of life the word of God without rebuke well you know something sometimes the world is sharper and things than we are I remember when this latest TV fellow fell and I came home my wife told me that was on the early news so I watched the eleven o'clock news and it came on and Ted Koppel I don't know if you ever watch him here on the Nightline program He makes no profession of faith in the Lord.
But whenever they had a couple of fellows on there, they said, wow, wow, he's a real man of God. He said, because he made a public confession, confession. Well, I was in service. That sounds good. Then Ted Koppel, he turned around and said, well, when did he make the confession? Before or after he got caught. Well, I think it's a good question. I think that's a very good question. So we can't take the press to pass and say, the devil's got them. No, we need to take ourselves to death for not living in a mature spiritual way. So, the Bible is the word of life. It's not only alive, but it gives life.
And the Bible can get down into you and reveal yourself to you. And every time I've seen a person out of fellowship with God, the first two things to go is his time in the Bible and his time in prayer. You know why? Because if you read the Bible, you're going to get convicted. So you just leave the Bible. You put the Bible down. Because the Word of God is alive and quick and sharp and powerful. And it's a deserner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. But thank God for that. That God can take the Word of God and reveal to us. Then we see where we have to make adjustments in our life so that we continue to grow. so as we think on these things this morning the Bible is alive in itself and will never be obsolete it's an amazing thing when you read the history of the church those men that were were walking with the Lord nearly two thousand years ago they left us his word and this word today is just alive and fresh and sometime you reach a young Christian I had a young brother come to me one time and he says I've read Now forget the portion he read, he said, I've exhausted that.
He said, I've exhausted that. I said, no, brother, you're going to get exhausted, but you're never going to exhaust the Word of God. Isn't it amazing that you can go and just read, say, John III, and it just seems like there's so much in it. Then you hear a brother stand up and you wonder, did I read that? Then you go back and read the second time, and you see new truths, new gems in the Word of God. You know why that is? Because the Word of God is forever fresh. It's never obsolete. And it's the only thing that won't grow old. Heaven and earth shall pass away. The Word of God says, But my word shall not pass away. And it's always fresh. It's always alive. It's always with power.
So we need the Word of God. We're told this newborn baby's desire that since you're milk of the Word, that we might grow thereby, it should be a hunger in our heart for the Word of God. Not just on a Sunday morning, not just in a conference, but every day of our lives. Ask yourself a question. How many times do you eat today? How many times do you eat tomorrow? How many times do you eat yesterday? Then ask yourself in comparison to that time. How many times do you put in the Word of God? Should we feed our physical bodies? But God expects us to feed our spiritual man. So that spiritual man will grow up. And that spiritual man will be mature. And that that spiritual man will be fruitful.
and that that spiritual man will be of service to the living God. So we need the word of God. That's what Peter says whenever the Lord expounded himself and said, I'm the living bread that came down from heaven. And that multitude walked away from him. And he says, Okay, he says, I think it's one of the saddest statements the Lord ever made. He looked at his disciples, he didn't pick up a convert out of that multitude. He said, Will you go away also? And Peter said, To whom shall we go? There's no place for us to go. For you have the word of eternal life. And we believe and are sure. We don't have any doubts here.
That's ours are Christ, the son of the living God. But Peter says, you have the word of God. But Jesus Christ is the word of God. And we need to understand that. So we need to strongly desire the word of God. Study it. Write it in hiding the word of truth. And there's basic divisions in the Word of God, as we're told. That word divide means cut a straight line. Don't ride a hobby horse through there. Cut a straight line through the Word of God. And there's three major divisions in the Word of God. First, it has to do with the Jews. Then it has to do with the Gentiles. It has to do with the church. That's your three major divisions.
And dare we take the Word of God and take what God is saying to the Jews and try to apply it to the church. Or take what God applies to the church and apply it to the Jews. And sometimes we take what God tells us and we try to apply it to the sinners. We'll take messages that call us to discipleship and try to use it as a salvation message. And God is not calling the sinners to discipleship. He's calling the sinners to salvation. He's calling you and I to discipleship. And we need to understand those right divisions in the Word of God. So Paul says... when I came to you speaking to the Corinthians he said you had need of the word of God and let it work in your lives and then become a teacher and when I'm saying teach we teach two ways we teach by our lips and we teach by our life and we need to witness both ways so go on to maturity let's grow up thank God for this tremendous position of truth that we have I'm so glad today that I can't lose my salvation.
You know why I can't lose it? You know why you can't lose your salvation? Because God never left us here to keep ourselves. See, our salvation is based on God's faithfulness. God the Father's faithfulness is God's Son. Jesus Christ is God's love gift to the world. Believers are God's love gift to the Son. And you know what seems to happen? Whenever we come to a saving knowledge of Christ, all he does is say, now Father, these are the ones that you gave me now I want you to do something for me father I want you to keep them I want you to do that for me now you think the father is going to feel the same no sir and that's why the Bible says his sheep know his voice we follow him he gives us eternal life will never perish and nobody can pluck that out of the father's hand how many believe we can be plucked out of the father's hand you believe that I don't believe that well now but we can just by an act of our will to snatch ourselves out of God's head.
The Bible says, Death, no height, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God. I can't separate myself from the love of God. You know, I'm so glad in that I don't know what to do. I shout hallelujah to that. Because the songwriter says, Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the one I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it. Shield it for the courts above. Let's grow up and go on to maturity. Lord, willing this afternoon we'll talk about why God expects us to grow. Loving Father, we thank you again for this time that we can be together.
Bless thy word to our hearts and bless the balance of this day. In Jesus' precious name. Amen.