Participants: Pr. Jac Colon
Series Code: RN
Program Code: RN000024
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01:04 Christian Growth!
01:06 I am so thankful for Christian Growth. 01:10 I'm thankful that God doesn't take us just 01:13 where we are and leave us where we are. 01:17 But God takes us where we are and continues 01:20 where our work in progress, 01:23 all the way through eternity, 01:25 learning more and more about Him 01:27 and growing in the grace in the love of God. 01:30 I used to think that, you know, 01:32 when you get to heaven we are gonna be floating 01:34 around on a cloud playing harp music wearing crowns, 01:37 I really wasn't into harp music 01:39 and I thought there wasn't much for me to do there. 01:42 But I've learned there is much, 01:44 much more than that. 01:45 We're gonna be growing, 01:47 growing in our understanding, 01:49 growing in our knowledge of God, 01:51 understanding His love all through out 01:54 the ceaseless ages of eternity. 01:57 And it starts right now. 01:59 I'm just thankful for Christian growth 02:02 and I want to talk about that this morning. 02:04 Notice, Peter said grow in the grace 02:09 and the knowledge of our Lord 02:10 and Savior Jesus Christ. 02:12 He didn't say grow into His grace 02:16 but grow in His grace. 02:20 You don't take a handful of seeds and plant 02:23 them on the sidewalk waiting for him 02:26 to sprout roots and leaves 02:27 and then put them in the garden. 02:29 There would be nothing for them 02:31 to get their nourishment from. 02:34 No, you plant the seeds in the garden 02:38 where they can get the moisture 02:39 and the nourishment that they need to grow 02:42 and become mature plants. 02:44 And so it is with Christian growth, some new believers 02:49 feel that they need to grow 02:54 and be mature and fully mature in Christ 02:57 before they are ready for church membership. 03:02 Oh that is the failure to understand 03:04 what it means to grow. 03:07 When we're baptized, we need to understand baptism. 03:11 We need to know what it means. 03:13 We need to understand that baptism means 03:16 that we're dying to that old life, 03:19 we're buried with Him and we're rising up 03:22 out of the water in order to live a new life for God. 03:26 We ought to understand little about 03:28 what that old life is that we're willing to die to. 03:32 And we should understand what that new life is 03:34 that we're rising up to live 03:36 and we should be willing to do 03:38 our best by the grace of God in His grace to live 03:42 our life that will honor and glorify Him. 03:45 It doesn't mean that we need to be fully mature. 03:48 It doesn't mean that we need to be perfect. 03:51 Baptism is not the graduation service. 03:54 Baptism is the enrolment service. 04:03 And then there are those who are baptized, 04:09 they don't understand again the principle 04:13 of Christian growth and they come out of the water, 04:18 you know, we had three people 04:20 baptized this morning. 04:21 We've had a number throughout 04:23 the whole meetings and every single one 04:26 when they come out of the water, 04:27 you noticed the joy, the peace on their face. 04:32 I remember we were doing a meeting out 04:34 in the outskirts of the Oklahoma City 04:36 in a little town Yukon, Oklahoma 04:39 and we went to National Guard Armory there. 04:42 They didn't even have a church, 04:43 we were starting a new church in that area 04:45 and there was a lady about 85-years old 04:48 that had been coming to our meetings every night. 04:51 And one night she came forward in the altar call 04:54 and she said pastor I want to be baptized, 04:57 I belong to a church 04:58 that doesn't baptize the Bible way. 05:00 In all my life I wanted to be baptized 05:03 but the pastors never would do it, 05:05 would you baptize me? 05:07 And I was little nervous about it 05:10 because like I said we were in a National Guard Armory. 05:14 We went in to a comfortable church 05:15 with a nice bapt history 05:17 where you can go down on the steps into it. 05:19 This was an aluminum frame tank. 05:23 That was about that tall off the ground 05:24 and they had a rickety aluminum ladder 05:26 that went up and then down in on the other side 05:29 and I had a hard time visualizing her 05:32 going up and down that ladder 05:34 and I could picture her slipping 05:36 and falling and just oh, 05:39 but she was determined to be baptized 05:41 and I said okay we'll do it. 05:43 I said look at the ladder now, 05:45 you are sure you want to? I want to do it pastor 05:47 so we had deacon standing on each side 05:50 and they helped to go up that ladder. 05:51 They helped to go down in the water 05:53 and she was baptized. 05:56 And when she came out of that water 05:58 it was just like hallelujah written all over her face. 06:00 And she said you know 06:02 I just feel clean all over and it does. 06:07 It's a good feeling, it's a good clean feeling. 06:12 But sooner or later it's going to happen, 06:18 may be a few hours, may be a few minutes, 06:21 may be a few days but you're gonna slip. 06:24 You're gonna make a mistake, you're gonna be down 06:28 and you know who is always right there 06:31 when you are down? 06:33 The old devil is always there, 06:34 the Bible says he is the accuser or the brethren. 06:37 He doesn't mind kicking people when they are down. 06:40 And he's gonna say you see you can't make it, 06:43 the standard is way too high for you. 06:45 You'll never be able to measure, 06:47 you weren't grounded in. 06:48 You won't ready, you won't mature enough. 06:51 You moved into this too soon, 06:52 you may as well just give up now. 06:54 That's what he does, every time. 06:59 But if we understand the principle 07:01 of Christian growth, then we understand 07:05 that we're not fully grown yet. 07:09 We're not fully mature yet, we're still growing. 07:12 And the fact that we're still growing means 07:14 we're gonna make mistakes. 07:17 And when we make mistakes instead of wallowing 07:19 around in an orgy of self pity 07:22 waiting for someone to come along 07:24 and pat us on the back and say hey 07:26 you are okay, get up this is fine. 07:28 We get up, we kneel down 07:31 and say God forgive me, I sinned. 07:35 I don't want to sin anymore. 07:37 Help me never do it again and then get up 07:40 off of your knees praising God for the forgiveness 07:43 that He is so graciously provided for us. 07:46 There is nothing worse than a bunch of long face 07:49 sourpuss Christians walking around bearing 07:53 the burden of guilt that Jesus 07:54 has already covered for you on the cross. 07:57 We should be happy people, amen. 07:59 We should be rejoicing. 08:01 We should be the happiest people on earth. 08:05 We're growing in the grace and the knowledge 08:09 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 08:13 And then there are new believers not fully 08:17 understanding the principle of Christian growth 08:21 who look around at the older 08:24 and more established Church members 08:27 expecting them to be perfect and fully mature. 08:33 And sooner or later they are gonna discover 08:36 some of those older established church members 08:39 making mistakes, even deacons, elders, 08:45 Bible class teachers maybe even the pastors. 08:51 And if the evangelist stayed around 08:53 long enough he might even make a mistake. 08:57 And I've already made a bunch. 09:03 And so then they start getting discouraged 09:06 and critical and judgmental about the members, 09:10 they see members. 09:12 In fact one fellow was just baptized couple of days 09:16 later he was driving his car 09:18 and an elder pulled up next to him in a red light 09:22 and the elder had a cigarette in his mouth. 09:27 Saw the guy over there ... cigarette disappeared 09:30 and I don't know where it went 09:33 but it disappeared but the new member saw it. 09:39 He was devastated now, shame on the elder 09:42 he shouldn't have been doing that, 09:43 but hey we're all growing 09:45 and we're not all perfect yet. 09:49 Some of you had to make huge decisions in your life. 09:54 Some of you made smaller ones 09:55 that were not so easy for you, 09:57 changing what you eat, what you drink, 10:01 what you wear and you may come to church 10:05 and find people dress differently 10:07 from what you were told is appropriate. 10:11 Well, you could do several things, 10:12 you could say well that must not be important, 10:15 so I'm gonna just go back and put it all back on, 10:17 but we studied it from the Bible 10:19 and it's nothing not important in the Bible. 10:22 Or you can get critical and judgmental, 10:25 start thinking you're better than others 10:27 who do things different from you do. 10:30 I hope you won't do that, 10:33 or you could recognize we're all growing in Christ. 10:37 And that means we're all at different levels of growth 10:41 and we may see things a little differently 10:43 from others from others who see things differently 10:46 and recognize that it's our responsibility to do 10:49 our part to be mature and encourage others 10:52 that they have their responsibility 10:54 and may be they see things that you haven't seen yet, 10:57 you see things they haven't seen yet. 10:59 You know the measure of maturity 11:01 of a Christian church is two. 11:04 One is the amount of unity, you know, 11:07 I really believe that when your lifestyle matches 11:11 your belief system, there's power there. 11:15 And the more your lifestyle matches what you believe, 11:18 the more power there is. 11:20 And I would love to have a church 11:22 full of perfect church members 11:23 and have an evangelistic meeting there, 11:26 boy that would be powerful, 11:28 but is never gonna happen until we get to heaven. 11:31 Then I don't need to do evangelism, 11:33 we just praise God up there. 11:37 But there is another measure of the maturity 11:39 of a Christian church 11:41 and that is their ability to love one another 11:44 even when they see things differently. 11:48 And I think I've seen a lot of that here 11:51 and I hope that we can continue to grow 11:53 in the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 11:59 Then there are new members 12:00 who mistakenly think that once they are baptized, 12:04 smooth sailing oh, fixes all the problems. 12:09 I was listening to the radio 12:10 when you have some of this late night 12:11 radio religious broadcasters 12:13 and I was listening to one 12:15 and I'm telling you he really 12:17 knew how to preach it, 12:19 if you just have enough faith, 12:21 you will never have a problem. 12:24 And any time you get a problem 12:25 you pray and send him a check for $25 12:28 and you'll get ten times that back in the mail. 12:31 It sounded convincing I was about to send my check, 12:37 that isn't the way it is folks. 12:41 I mean God wants us to have an abundant life 12:43 that's true and He will give us 12:44 everything we need, never fails. 12:51 And when you come out of that water it is true 12:53 you've buried all those old things 12:57 and they are dead and when you 12:59 rise up out of the water, 13:00 you face a whole new set of problems 13:02 that you never saw before. 13:05 The difference is now you got Jesus on your side 13:07 to fight the battles for you. 13:10 There are battles to fight as a Christian. 13:13 There is a devil running around in this world, 13:16 but just need to remember that He who is in you 13:18 is greater than He who is in the world. 13:25 I'm going to tell a story and it's getting more 13:29 and more difficult to tell 13:30 because I could be misunderstood 13:33 and be accused to be a racist 13:35 and I hope you don't. 13:37 Think that about me because I am not. 13:39 But you know at time of slavery in our country 13:43 provided a rich treasure of experiences of people 13:47 who stood faithful to God 13:48 in the most adverse circumstances. 13:52 I don't advocate slavery. 13:54 I believe that Jesus, 13:55 in Jesus we're all one in Christ. 13:58 It doesn't matter what color of skin 14:00 but this story is such a perfect 14:03 illustration of the point we're talking about. 14:06 It's about a man who was born into slavery 14:10 on the plantation and he grew up 14:12 with the owner of the plantation son. 14:16 And the owner died and the son took over 14:19 and these two men were like brothers, 14:21 they did everything together. 14:25 The owner of the plantation love to duck hunting 14:29 and one day when they are out duck hunting 14:32 he asked his friend the slave 14:35 he asked him a question. 14:37 He said you're a Christian, I'm not a Christian, 14:42 you are always singing songs 14:43 about the toils and the strife of life. 14:48 I don't have any of those problems. 14:51 Why don't you just give it all up and be like me 14:52 and you don't have those problems either. 14:55 He had asked him that question 14:57 a number of times and poor Sam 14:59 never did know how to answer it. 15:03 Until this particular day when they are out hunting, 15:06 a bunch of ducks flew over, 15:07 he picked up his gun he shot and he got two in one shot. 15:11 One duck was killed, he went right straight down, 15:14 the other duck he nicked in the wing 15:16 he was wounded and he fluttered down 15:19 as soon as he hit the ground he began to scamper away. 15:23 Now, Sam's job was to go and get the ducks, 15:26 so he ran right passed the dead one 15:29 chasing after that wounded duck 15:32 and after running a little bit 15:33 he finally caught it and he put it in the bag. 15:38 And then he went back and he picked up 15:41 the dead one, he put him in the bag 15:44 and started back towards the man 15:46 and he said big smile broke out on his face 15:50 because now he had the answer. 15:52 He said, you know, you always asking me 15:55 why is it that I'm singing about the toils 15:58 and the strife of life. 15:59 I'm a Christian, you're not a Christian. 16:00 You don't have those problems, 16:01 you always ask me. 16:03 And I never know how to answer, 16:04 but now I know you see it's like the two ducks, 16:07 you shot two, you got one, 16:08 you killed one, the other one was just wounded 16:10 and the dead one fell down, 16:12 the other one tried to get away 16:13 I went running after the wounded one 16:15 because he was trying to get away 16:17 and you see I'm the wounded duck, 16:19 the old devil is after me 16:20 and I'm running as hard as I can 16:22 and I'm trying to get away. 16:23 You're the dead dog he has you in the bag, 16:25 he is not even worried about you. 16:30 This kind of like that, isn't it? 16:32 When you go into that water, 16:34 when you become Seventh-day Adventist Christian 16:36 it's no easy thing to do. 16:39 The old devil doesn't like it 16:40 and he comes after you with both barrels blazing. 16:44 But remember you're not going down 16:46 any path that Jesus hasn't already gone, 16:49 just follow the lamb you're gonna get there. 16:53 And there is another group that don't understand 16:55 the principles of Christian growth. 16:58 I don't think we've any here but just incase we do, 17:01 I'm gonna talk about it. 17:03 They are what I call the fossilized church members. 17:11 Now, why do I call them fossilized? 17:14 Well, a fossil doesn't grow. 17:18 Fossil hasn't been growing for a long time. 17:22 Fossilized church members 17:24 have been around for a long time 17:26 but they haven't been growing. 17:28 They haven't been helping people grow. 17:31 They haven't been reaching out 17:32 and winning people to Jesus. 17:34 They haven't been sharing their faith. 17:36 They kind of view the church as an exclusive club. 17:42 And they are more concerned about their reputation 17:47 and what this new people might bring to the church 17:50 that could embarrass and disgrace their club. 17:54 They are the ones, the fossilized members, 17:57 they will stand on the side line in a meeting 18:00 like this morning when we introduce 18:02 all the new people. 18:03 And they will be standing across the front 18:05 and we introduce them. 18:06 They are the ones whispering to one another, yeah, 18:09 but do you think they are gonna stick. 18:13 I hope I don't hear that here. 18:15 If I do you're gonna get another sermon from me, 18:20 you know, it reminds me, 18:23 reminds me of bringing the baby into the world. 18:29 It's kind of like that. 18:30 Now some of the people you're gonna meet 18:32 a brand new babies in Christ, brand new, 18:37 other are giants in the Lord. 18:39 Been Christians for a long time, 18:41 they just learned new things 18:42 and they have taken the stand, 18:44 some are brand new. 18:46 You remember those of you who that have children, 18:48 you remember when your first born children came around. 18:53 It's an exciting time, isn't it? 18:56 Young couple just had a baby 18:58 and they were in the hospital, 18:59 the day came to go home and dad says hey 19:02 you haven't even seen him in the nursery yet. 19:05 Why don't we get your stuff together? 19:07 We'll go with the nurse, you know, 19:08 they got the big glass window, 19:09 they still got that big glass window 19:11 where you can press your nose against the glass 19:12 and look at all the babies. 19:14 Oh! They don't that anymore, missing something. 19:17 That's what they had for us 19:19 and so this little couple goes in 19:20 and they are gonna go looking there at the babies, 19:22 want to see him in the nursery 19:23 before they take him out. 19:24 So, they go then look in the glass there he is, 19:28 oh, he is all wrinkled up in ugly 19:31 and purple like a little prune. 19:33 New born babies are not very pretty you know, 19:37 I mean ours were exception to that of course. 19:40 There he is all wrinkled up in ugly, 19:42 then he is screaming at the top of his lungs, 19:45 he is flailing his fists, 19:47 kicking his little legs and dad say wow! 19:52 Just a minute here, 19:55 we better think about what we're doing. 19:59 I mean look at this guy, 20:01 man he could grow up to embarrass us 20:05 and disgrace our family, we better think about this. 20:11 Mom says yeah, you know, 20:13 he doesn't look very intelligent either, 20:17 maybe we have to leave him here long enough 20:18 so that he can take a IQ Test or something 20:21 and then we'll decide what to do with the thing. 20:25 That's the way it is? 20:28 Hey, there are risks bringing 20:31 a child into the world, 20:34 but you don't even think about the risks 20:37 because of love in your heart. 20:40 And the truth is if you are anything like we were, 20:43 man you resent the fact that they have isolated him 20:46 from you for so long and you can't wait to get him home 20:49 and put him in his own bed 20:51 and get some good old family germs all over him, 20:54 right and shouldn't it be that way with those 20:59 who are wanting to become part of our church family. 21:02 I mean we should be standing with our arms out 21:04 stretched not able to get him in there fast enough. 21:12 And then one day dad comes home from work 21:16 about a year later and mom can't even talk, 21:22 she is so excited she came and talk she says 21:26 he did it, he did, he did, he can walk, 21:28 he can walk, he took his first step, 21:30 hearing all that drops his briefcase there 21:32 and he bends down mom's holding him steady 21:34 and he holds his arms out 21:35 and that little fellow did it before, 21:37 he puts out his foot 21:38 and he steps right into his dad's arm. 21:40 Oh! Man he can do it, he can walk, he can walk, 21:43 so they skips up bundle him in his coat, 21:45 whisk him out of the door off 21:46 to grandma and grandpa house 21:47 he can walk, he can walk 21:49 and they set him down on the floor 21:50 there and there's grandma and grandpa 21:52 and there's aunt and uncle and cousins 21:54 and everybody is watching him and dad is saying 21:56 he can walk, he can walk, he still got his coat on, 21:59 he got his shoes on now carpet under his feet 22:02 but he did it before there's mom holding him 22:04 steady there's dad reaching out to him 22:06 oh yeah he did it before, he can do it, he can walk, 22:08 he can walk come on. 22:10 He puts out that little foot and whirl 22:12 around on his heel and he falls to the ground. 22:17 And his dad walks over to him 22:20 and he kicks him across the rug. 22:26 You idiot, he says I knew you couldn't do it. 22:36 What a pity, many times 22:41 we get brand new babies in Christ 22:45 and they step out to take that step 22:48 and they stumble and the church kicks, 22:54 baptized him too soon, 22:57 didn't know what they were doing, 23:00 weren't grounded enough and, you know, 23:04 maybe we don't say it to their face 23:06 but you know they can sense. 23:09 People can sense a cold unloving uncaring spirit. 23:19 Truth is little junior, 23:25 his dad caught him before he even hit the floor 23:29 and he stood him back up on his feet 23:32 and he said he can walk, he can walk 23:35 and they do it again and again 23:38 and again until he gets it. 23:42 And if he doesn't get it dad takes off 23:44 the work the next day, 23:46 he stays home and they practice all day 23:49 and as soon they get it, 23:51 it's back to grandma and grandpa's house. 23:55 You see it's hard to fall 23:57 if some one has their arm around 23:59 your shoulder holding you up. 24:03 That's the way it needs to be in God's church. 24:07 And not just for the new members, 24:09 but for the older ones too, 24:12 because in a sense we're all learning to walk. 24:15 Everyday we learn new things about God. 24:18 And we need to be there 24:19 for the encouragement of one another. 24:21 You know one of my favorite pictures of God in the Bible 24:25 is in Hosea 11 Chapter in verse 3 he said, 24:30 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, 24:33 taking them by the arms, don't you like that, 24:38 but they didn't even realize it was I who healed them, 24:41 I led them with cords of human kindness, 24:44 with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck 24:48 and I bent down to feed them. 24:50 It's hard to fall when you have a God like that. 24:55 It's hard to fall when you have a church like that. 25:01 There is an incredible power in love, 25:05 we all need love. 25:07 You know there was a phenomenon 25:11 that scientist discovered 25:12 in orphanages after World War II. 25:18 And that was that many of the babies, 25:23 of all the babies that were brought into the orphanages, 25:28 two years older under, very few grew up 25:33 to live a normal healthy adult life. 25:38 They didn't understand why, 25:42 so they began to study this phenomenon 25:44 what is wrong, what's happening. 25:49 And finally they found an orphanage in Germany 25:52 and their babies were growing up normal. 25:55 So, the team of researchers converged on that orphanage. 26:01 And they studied every little thing 26:02 that was happening there the diet, 26:04 their schedule, how much sleep they got, 26:07 how much exercise they got, 26:09 what they did with the kid everything they studied 26:11 they couldn't find any 26:12 difference between that orphanage 26:13 and all the others but their babies 26:15 were growing up normal and healthy. 26:19 One day one of the researchers was there 26:21 and he saw an older lady off standing against the wall 26:26 and she had a baby in her arms 26:28 and he said who's that oh, 26:30 that's no body that's just old Ana, 26:33 old Ana what does she do here? 26:36 She don't do anything, she is just here 26:39 and if one of the babies get sick 26:40 we let her hold it that's all. 26:44 And the doctor thought is it possible, 26:48 is it possible that the thing 26:49 missing in the lives of those little babies 26:51 was the love of a mother. 26:55 So, they did an experiment, 26:57 they hired a bunch of ladies 26:58 that work in various orphanages 27:00 and all they had to do is love the babies, 27:02 wouldn't you like to have a job like that, 27:04 is love the babies all day. 27:07 And you know years later when they went back 27:09 they found in those orphanages 27:10 where they have mothers to love the babies 27:12 all day long their babies brought in under the age 27:14 of two grew up to live normal healthy adult lives. 27:18 The awesome power of love 27:20 and if it's necessary for us 27:23 to have love in order to grow physically, 27:26 how much more necessary is it for us to have love 27:29 in order to grow spiritually in Christ. 27:33 Love is the answer, 27:36 we're gonna get along in the family of God. |
Revised 2014-12-17