Now here is the express command
of God the Holy Spirit to every believer. Grow in grace. Grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This growth in grace
is the result of God's grace within us, it is the inevitable,
the sure, the certain result of grace within. Where there
is grace, there is growth. And yet, this growth in grace
is a matter of personal responsibility, as it is the responsibility of
every child to grow up, the responsibility of every youth to mature into
adulthood. It is the responsibility of every
child of God to grow up and to mature in grace and the things
of the Spirit of God. Now, anyone who reads the Word
of God, even casually, with spiritual understanding, must recognize
the fact that there are varying degrees of faith. Those who are
born of God do grow in grace. The Apostle Paul said to the
Thessalonians, your faith groweth exceedingly. In the scriptures,
we read of those in the family of God who have weak faith and
those who have strong faith, those who have little faith and
those who have great faith. There are both in the family
of God. In the kingdom of God, there
are some who have faith, which is as a grain of mustard seed.
And then there are others who enjoy the full assurance of faith. All believers grow in grace. The very fact that there is spiritual
life in the soul implies growth, progress, increase, and advancement. Lambs grow into sheep. Buds grow
into flowers, sprigs grow into trees, and babies grow into men. Believers are not gateposts planted
in cement. Believers are trees of life planted
by the rivers of living water by the power of God. Now, this
is one distinguishing characteristic of life. It grows. Where there
is life, there is growth, there is progress. The absence of growth
tells us that there is an absence of life. Spiritual life in Christ
is compared by the wise man to the course of the sun. It is
described as a progressive course. In Proverbs 4 in verse 18, Solomon
says the path of the just, that is the path of one who is justified
by faith in Jesus Christ, is as the shining light that shineth
more and more unto the perfect day. Spiritual growth is compared
to the growth of corn. First the blade, then the year,
after that the full corn in the year. Sometimes life in Christ
is compared to the life that we enjoy in this world physically. We begin as newborn babes and
then grow into little children, young men and fathers in the
family of God. The plain truth of scripture
is just this, where there is life, there is growth. If there
is in my heart a living principle of grace, that grace is growing. If it is not growing, then there
is no living principle of grace there. Now, this morning we saw
how the Apostle Peter gives us a solemn warning against the
danger of apostasy. He said in verse 17, Beware,
lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your steadfastness. Now, in order to avoid that apostasy,
that apostasy which I hope we most greatly fear, that apostasy
which has taken so many, Peter admonishes us to grow in grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This
is the matter of human responsibility. This is our responsibility as
believers in this world. What is this growth in grace? Let me first state plainly what
it is not. I think perhaps that will be
the best way to describe what it is. This growth in grace is
not a growth of God's grace toward us. It is not an increase of
our standing, our position, our favor, and our relationship with
God. The moment a sinner believes
Christ, the moment a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he
is complete in Him. God's grace toward us never varies. God's favor toward us never increases
and never diminishes. It is in no way conditional upon
anything within us. The grace of God is always the
same toward his people. It doesn't change. It didn't
change when our father Adam sinned in the garden. It did not change
even when Jesus Christ died as our substitute, and it does not
change today. God's gracious favor toward us
is eternally the same, for He always looks upon us in Jesus
Christ His Son. When we come to enjoy that gracious
favor by faith in Jesus Christ, we are once and for all declared
to be by God Himself perfectly accepted in the beloved. The
Lord God has made us accepted in his Son. Turn to Ephesians
1. Ephesians is the first chapter.
Here the Apostle Paul is describing God's eternal purpose of grace.
He tells us in chapter 1 how that we have been chosen, predestinated,
and adopted before the world began in Christ Jesus to the
praise of the glory of his grace. In verse 6 he says, wherein he
hath made us," notice the language, he hath, at one time, in the
past, in eternity, in his decree, in his purpose, in his covenant
of grace, he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Do you see that?
That's finality. That's perfection. That's completion. We are accepted eternally, unconditionally,
immutably, perfectly accepted in the beloved, in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Accepted in Him because we're
one with Him. Accepted in Him because He's
the shepherd, we're the sheep. Accepted in Him because He's
our substitute. He's our representative. He's
our mediator. He's our covenant head. He's
our elder brother. We're in Him. And God accepts
us. He always has. He does now. He always will unconditionally
accept His own in Christ Jesus. Turn over to Colossians chapter
2. Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10. This same apostle has told
us that in Christ Jesus, by God's grace, we are right now made
meat to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life. That is,
we're right now in Christ through his righteousness, through his
blood, because he lived for us, because he died for us, because
he arose for us, because his righteousness is imputed to us,
because our sins are washed away by his blood right now. We are
perfectly accepted in Christ so that we're worthy of heaven's
glory in Him. Now look at verse 10 of chapter
2. And ye are complete in Him. Complete in Him. Now that word
complete simply means that you're full up in Him. You're full up. If this water glass here was
absolutely full so that one more drop of water would make it run
over, that's complete. That's what the word means. Nothing
can be added. Nothing can be added. Nothing
is needed. Nothing can be added. Nothing at all can be done to
add to our completion in Christ. We are, by God's grace, by divine
imputation, by union with Christ, perfect in the beloved, with
His holy garments on, holy as God's own Son. Near so very near
to God nearer. I cannot be for in the person
of God's dear son I'm as near as he that's what we are in Christ
Jesus So this growth in grace is not a growth of God's grace
toward us never think that in those terms When we sin we have
problems. There's no question about that
we recognize that that our Our sin is a troublesome thing to
the flesh, a troublesome thing to our spirits, and a troublesome
thing caused by the flesh. We recognize the evil and the
corruption and the guilt of sin. We know that. But blessed be
God, Christ has taken away our sin and God does not charge his
own with sin. God's favor is never interrupted.
It doesn't increase by our works of righteousness, and it doesn't
diminish by our deeds of evil. Never. But secondly, this growth
in grace is not a growth in what men call progressive sanctification. Turn over to Hebrews 10, Hebrews
the 10th chapter. Now, I realize that a lot of
times people argue and fuss and fight and divide over mere terms. And I would not fuss with anyone
over terms. There are those who talk about
progressive sanctification who do not mean what most people
do. I realize that. But generally
the doctrine of progressive sanctification is this. There are those who
would teach us that our old nature grows holier and holier, that
our hearts grow purer and purer. that our besetting sins, temptations,
and lust gradually become weaker and weaker. But we know better. We know better. Painful experience
has taught us the truth of God's Word. Flesh is flesh. It never does get to be spirit.
Flesh is evil. It never does get to be holy.
Flesh is corrupt, it never does get to be righteous. Flesh is
vile, it never does get to be sanctified. The old man, by faith,
is not sent to the hospital to be cured, he's sent to the cross
to be crucified. I am crucified with Christ. We know by painful experience
that our hearts Continually, this natural heart of flesh is
evil, only evil. Evil continually, nothing but
evil comes to the flesh. Thank God there is a new heart.
Thank God there's a new principle of grace. Thank God there's a
new life within me, a new nature within me. But that old man is
nothing else but evil. So that with Paul we're made
to confess, I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. And our sanctification is not
an improving of the flesh. It's not even an improving of
the natural disposition of the man. It is not somehow or another
us overcoming the evil of the flesh so that it's no longer
there and the flesh becomes pure and lust become weaker. That's
not it at all. Our sanctification is a matter
of God's free grace. We are made perfectly holy by
the imputation of Christ's righteousness by his death and perfectly holy
by the imparting of a divine nature which cannot sin. That
holy seed that is in you cannot sin. That's what John says in
1 John 3, 9. Now look here at Hebrews 10.
This is what the scripture says about sanctification. By the
which will, that is by the obedience of Christ to the will of God
as our substitute. By the which will we are sanctified,
made holy, made to be saints through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ one time. Verse 14, for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. So this
growth in grace is not a growth in what men call progressive
sanctification, progressive righteousness, or progressive holiness. Thirdly,
growth in good works, growth in years, growth in experience
is not necessarily an indication that we are growing in grace.
A person may be rich in experience, but poor in grace. A person may
have performed many wonderful works, but have no grace in his
heart. He may have even performed those
works in the name of Christ. He may have performed those works
for the good of others. He may have performed those works
with great sacrifice and devotion. But if he has no grace in his
heart, his works are meaningless and useless. There shall be those
who arise in the last day and stand before the bar of God's
strict justice and anticipate being accepted of God on the
basis of their works. They will say, but Lord, have
we not done many wonderful works in thy name? You can do many,
many wonderful works and have no grace in your heart. A person
may have gray hairs on his head and be long, long years in the
visible church of God, but have no grace in his heart. How many
there are today, like there have been in days gone by, like there
were in the days of the New Testament church, like there were in the
kingdom of Israel. Many who have a name to live
who are dead. Many who profess faith but possess
no faith. Many who claim to be the children
of God but are not the children of God. They are not all Israel
which are of Israel. A mere profession. Men, for some reason, men and
women cherish, they cherish and hold to their death that precious
profession of faith. But a mere profession of faith
is nothing to hold to. It's an abomination. It is the
possession of faith that makes a profession of value. Growth
in grace, again, cannot be determined by our emotions and feelings. We have a tough time here. Somehow
we still equate spirituality with emotionalism. We still equate
a spiritual worship service. How many times? How many times
have you been in a worship service and things got all hooked up,
you know? Preachers are pretty good at
it. Get the right kind of singing. and the right kind of dialogue
going between the pulpit and the pew, and folks get kind of
excited. They get whooped up, all excited
about what's going on. And you go out and say, boy,
that was a good service. God was with us tonight. Really? I'd like to have been there.
What did the preacher preach on? Well, I don't know. I don't know. But it was a good service. No? Mere feeling and emotion is no
indication of divine grace. None at all. Now, thank God.
I thank God we feel. I thank God he has made us emotional
creatures. We are not stones. We are not
pieces of wood. But as a general rule, children
are far more emotional and far more moved by feeling than adults
except in religion. except in religion. In religion,
adults behave like children. They are moved and impressed
and greatly stirred by mere emotion, by mere feeling. You watch these
folks on television, these evangelists, they manipulate crowds. And they
get them to laugh, and they get them to cry, and they get them
to shout, and clap their hands, and have great stirrings of emotion. And with the right emotional
pressure, they can get thousands of people to do almost anything.
Almost anything. Emotionalism is not spirituality. Burning straw has much more flame,
much more show, and much more noise than burning coal. But
on a cold winter day, give me the coal. They're more useful,
they're more dependable, and they're more lasting. I know
that there is something to be said for first love. God let
us return to our first love, but first love must not be something
we seek in exchange for proven, lasting, dependable, committed
love. You follow what I'm saying? First
love is good. We want the devotion and we want
the zeal and we want the commitment of first love. But we want, along
with that zealous first love, we want that growing, mature,
responsible, committed, thick or thin, good or bad, live or
die. That's the kind of love we want.
To grow in grace, again, is not merely to grow in a precise doctrinal
knowledge of the things of God. Increased, clear, precise doctrinal
knowledge does not necessarily indicate a growth in grace. Now,
I realize that we're living in an age when men despise doctrine
for the most part. So we don't want anybody to preach
any doctrine. Every now and then I see advertisements. Advertisement
for one of these religious get-togethers is we'll have preachers from
all over the place preaching and at the bottom of the page said
there won't be any doctrinal preaching here. Everybody thinks that's
some kind of spirituality. Now listen, doctrine is vital. You can't have it. You can't
have the knowledge of Christ without doctrine. You can't have
the knowledge of truth without doctrine. Doctrine is vital to
spirituality. But mere doctrine is not spirituality. There's a big difference. Saul
of Tarsus had all the right doctrines. That man, I don't have any question
about it. He believed in election just like we do. Sure he did. He didn't believe anybody was
chosen of God but the nation of Israel. Saul of Tarsus believed
in particular limited atonement. I know he did, for on the Passover
night, those Jews didn't even tell the Egyptians anything about
the sacrifice. Didn't tell them anything about
it. That sacrifice, that lamb, that priesthood, that tabernacle,
that temple, that altar, everything was for Israel alone. Saul believed,
right, doctor? This man Saul believed in God's
sovereignty over the universe. Sure he did. Saul had precise
doctrine, but he had no grace. Judas knew the doctrine, but
he had no grace. Demas was a theologian, but he
had no grace. Merely increasing in doctrinal
knowledge does not necessarily indicate a growth in grace. But
what is it? To grow in grace is to grow in
spiritual maturity. Just as a child grows from a
baby to a toddler, from a toddler to a youth, from a youth to a
teen, from a teenager to an adult, from a young adult to mature
man. So the people of God grow from being babies in Christ to
being children, young men and fathers in the kingdom of God.
Some grow very rapidly. Most grow very slowly, but all
grow. They all grow. God doesn't have
any dwarfs in his kingdom. God doesn't have any children
in his kingdom who are incapable of growth. When Peter talks about
growing in grace, he is not talking about something physical or something
that is performed in the energy of the flesh. He's talking about
the growth and maturity of the grace of God that has been implanted
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is something for which we
strive. It is something for which we are ourselves responsible. But it is a growth that is caused
and produced by God, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Now,
let me show you a couple of scriptures here in Hebrews chapter six.
Hebrews chapter six. I won't. Bother with getting
into an exposition of this text, just listen to it and hear what
it says concerning this matter of growth. Therefore, leaving
the principles of the doctrine of Christ, that is, leaving the
foundational principle doctrines of Christ, let us go on unto
perfection, unto maturity, not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works or of faith toward God, of the doctrine
of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection
of the dead and of eternal judgment. Now, look at what he says in
verse three. And this will we do. That is, we will grow if
God permit. Turn to Philippians chapter three.
I'm sorry, Philippians two, Philippians chapter two. This growth in grace is a matter
of our responsibility, but it is something that is caused and
produced only by God, the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Philippians
2 and verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more
in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. This is something you're responsible
to do. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For
it is God which worketh in us, that is, this is how we work
out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is God which worketh
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now, there
are many graces of the Spirit in the believer's heart. Read
Galatians chapter 5. The apostle tells us that the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace. long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, meekness, and faith, and temperance. These are the
things described as the fruit of the Spirit. And all of the
fruit of the Spirit, all of the graces of the Spirit grow and
mature as long as the believer lives in this world. But there
are three graces which stand out above all others as evidences
of eternal life. Those three graces are faith,
hope, and love. Now abideth faith, hope, and
love, these three. The greatest of these is love.
Now these three graces will grow to maturity here. They will be
harvested in heaven and endure to eternity. So I want to talk
to you just a little bit about these three graces of the Spirit
and talk to you about growing in grace in these three areas.
To grow in grace is to grow in faith. Faith. Believing Christ, that's faith. Faith. Commitment to Christ,
that's faith. A mere belief, like saying, I
believe this desk is made of wood, is not faith. But faith is a belief that causes
me to commit myself to the rule and dominion of Christ. This
faith is a growing grace in the heart. It is alive. It's a living faith. And all
things living grow. If the faith which I have does
not grow and increase, it is because it is a dead faith, not
a living faith. Growing faith is simply an increasing
confidence in Jesus Christ. It is a continually increasing
confidence in the finished work of Christ. Trusting his righteousness,
trusting his blood, trusting the merits of his atonement,
trusting him as our substitute. It is faith, growing faith in
the word of his promise. believing what he has promised.
He's promised us eternal life. He's promised us everlasting
glory. He's promised us himself. Faith
is a growing, increasing confidence that he'll do what he said. It
is a growing confidence in the providential rule of the Son
of God. Judy sang about it just a little
bit ago. Somehow, there is a direct correlation
between trusting Christ as my substitute and trusting Christ
as the ruler of this world for my good. There's a direct correlation. If I trust him as my substitute,
I trust him who rules as Lord over all things, and I trust
his providential rule. That trust is not the same today
as it was 20 years ago. It's grown some. Hadn't grown
like it should, but it's grown some. I, 20 years ago, trusted
Christ, finished work. I trusted Christ, word of promise,
and I trusted his rule of my life. Well, today, I still trust
him. His finished work, His word of
promise, and His rule of providence. But that trust, that faith grows. It grows with experience. It
grows because I know more of Him than I did then. Know more
about His finished work, His word of promise, and His providential
rule than I did then. To grow in grace is not only
to grow in faith, but to grow in hope. Hope is the expectation
and anticipation of all that God has promised in his son.
It is the confident expectation of all necessary good, both for
time and eternity. Hope is the desire and the expectation
of the believer's heart based on the word of God. It is not
a mere baseless hope, but it is a hope based upon the scriptures. As faith grows, hope grows. grows
and causes us to have a growing peace, patience, submission,
and contentment in Christ. I have a growing confident hope
before God. I have a growing confidence,
a growing hope of perseverance in the way of faith, a growing
hope. He said, I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. The Lord God declares that he
which has begun a good work in you will perform it to the day
of Christ. And the longer I live, the more confident I am that
soul. He that called you is faithful. He'll also do it. The longer
I live, the more confident I am that soul. I have a growing hope
of immortality as I have borne the image of the earth there.
And God knows I have borne the image of the earth there. So
I must also bear the image of the heavenly. To be absent from
the body is to be present with the Lord. I have a growing hope,
a confident hope, of being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ,
body, soul, and spirit. God predestinated us to that
end. The Lord God will one of these days cause us to be just
exactly like His Son, not only in His sight, but in reality,
in the body. Yes, I have a hope, a growing,
confident hope, so that I can say with Job, I know that my
Redeemer lives. I know he does. And I know that
at the last day he shall stand on this earth. whom I will see
for myself and not another. Though the skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God in Jesus Christ my Lord. I have a growing confident hope
of that. A hope of resurrection and of everlasting glory. And
to grow in grace is to grow in love. Love. No generation under the sun has
ever talked more about love than this generation does. Every preacher
talks about love. Men and women talk about love.
Songs written about love. Everybody talks so very much
about love and talks so much about it, I don't think anybody
knows what it means. Love, what is it? It is not a
fluctuating passion of the flesh. That's not what it is. Had a fellow a while back, wanted
to find an excuse to leave his wife. I was trying to minister
to him and her both. He wrote to me, said, well, I
just don't love her anymore. I said, what? Don't love her
anymore? Well, you don't love God then.
Oh, yeah, yeah, I love God. No, you don't. No, you don't.
That kind of love that God gives isn't a fluctuating thing. It's
not a fluctuating passion. Love is a living principle of
grace implanted in the heart by the Spirit of God in regeneration. And I'm going to tell you something.
Nobody knows what real love is except one who is born of God.
Nobody else does. Nobody else is capable of real
love. Nobody else is. Oh, I know. are
unbelievers in this world who have what people call love for
their wives and children and so on. But only one who is born
of God loves in this fashion. Like all other graces, the spirit
of love grows. First, it's the seed sown, then
the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Now,
this is what I'm saying. If my love for Christ, the gospel
of his grace and the people of his choice does not grow, then
my profession of love is nothing but a sham, a pretentious, hypocritical
show of words. Real love is a growing, increasing
commitment of my That's what love is, Bob. It's commitment. And when it is what it ought
to be, it is an unreserved, unconditional commitment. I've married a few of you. You
may recall. If you don't recall, I've got
it written down somewhere. I'll give you a copy of it. Do
you promise to love, honor, and cherish her? Do you promise to
love, honor, and obey him in sickness and in health, in good
times and bad times, in the good that may come your way, in the
bad that may darken your days, for better or for worse, until
death do you part? That's some kind of commitment,
buddy. That's some kind for better or for worse. That gal said,
but I didn't know it was going to be this worse. That's some
kind of commitment. Some kind of commitment. That's
love. That's love. Unconditional, unreserved
commitment. Unconditional, unreserved commitment
to Christ. Unconditional, unreserved commitment
to the gospel. unconditional, unreserved commitment
to the church of the living God. That's love. And if I grow in
grace, I grow in this kind of love, a growing, increasing commitment. Commitment. Do you love me? Lord, you know all things. You
know that I love you. Yes, because of his grace, by
his grace, I do love him. I see more of my corruption than
I saw before. I see more of my sin and the
evil that's in me than I knew before. And my flesh is more evil now
than it was before. That's a paradox. But I love
Christ today. I love him. I love his church,
his people. I love the gospel of his grace.
I love it. And that is a growing, increased
commitment. I was committed, I was committed to Christ 20 years
ago when first he called me by his grace. I threw up the white
flag of surrender and I never took it back. No sir. But that commitment, that commitment, Oh, there was
so much, so much I didn't know. So much I hadn't yet experienced. Well, it's nearly 21 years later. Matter of fact, it is 21 years
later. And I'm committed to it. I'm
committed to it. Come hell or high water, I'm
committed to it. Come life or death, I'm committed to it. I'm
committed to it. Kind of like the love of a man
and his wife. I don't know a better illustration,
I've used it many times, but Shelby and I have been married
for 19 years. One month, 19 years. One month
from today, 19 years. I fell in love with that blonde-headed
girl. She thought I was crazy, but
I was head over heels flipped in love. I fell in love with
her. And I would do anything under
the sun to convince her of my love for her when I was just
a boy. And when we stood before a preacher
and before God, and made those vows to one another, I loved
her. I loved her, I was committed
to her. And she to me. But now we've had 19 years of
better and worse. She's seen the best and the worst
in me. And I've seen the best and the
worst in her. And we've experienced the best and the worst. of trials
and joys. And I love her, committed to
her. You follow me? Love grows. It always grows. Real love always grows. If it
doesn't grow, there's no love. There's no love. Now this, I
believe, is the primary meaning of Peter's word when he says,
grow in grace. It is our responsibility to grow
in faith, in hope, and in love. Much more might be included in
the admonition, but these are the principal things. May God
give us grace and enable us to obey this admonition. I know
that grace is a living principle in the heart. I know that every
living believer grows. But I'm interested in this, how. How can I grow in grace? How can I obey this admonition? Peter gives us the answer in
the next line. Look at what he says. His admonition
is grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. We grow in grace as we grow in
the knowledge of Christ. Grace is born in our hearts by
the knowledge of Christ. And as that knowledge increases,
the grace of God in our hearts increases. The more I know Christ,
the more my faith and confidence in him grows. The more I know
Christ, the more my hope in Christ grows. The more I know Christ,
the more my love for Christ, his gospel, and his people grows. With a child, maturity increases
with knowledge. And in the kingdom of God, grace
grows and matures as we grow in the knowledge of Christ. Now,
please understand me. Peter is not talking about a
mere speculative, theoretical knowledge of Christ. He's talking
about an ever-increasing, ever-growing, experimental heart knowledge
of Christ. This is what Paul yearns for.
He's acting on everything but done. that I may win Christ and
be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which is of
the law, but the righteousness which is of God by faith, the
faithfulness of Jesus Christ, that I may know him." Didn't
he know him? Yeah, he knew him. He knew him.
He says that I may know him. That's the burden of our hearts,
isn't it, Bob? I want to know Him. I want to know Him. To know Him. Oh, I know Him and
trust Him. But oh, Lord, I want to know
You and trust You. I know Him and have hope in Him. Oh, I want to know Him and hope
in Him. I know Him and love Him. Oh,
to know Him and love Him. That's what I'm talking about.
It is a heart knowledge that causes this growth in grace.
In order for us to grow spiritually, in spiritual maturity, three
things are required. Nourishment, exercise, and discipline. Our bodies can't grow without
those things. Our souls can't grow in grace
without those things. We must obtain nourishment for
our souls if we would grow in grace. And we obtain that nourishment
by feeding on Christ. We won't turn there, but you
can read it at your leisure in John 6. Our Lord said, my flesh
that I give for the life of the world, this is me. My blood which
I shed for the remission of sins, this is drinking. Except you
eat my flesh and drink my blood, there's no life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood shall live like me. I dwell in him and he in me.
What's he talking about? But he's not talking about the
elements of the Lord's table. That's not it at all. That passage
doesn't have a thing on earth to do with the Lord's table,
communion, observing the Lord's supper. He's talking about faith.
He's talking about faith in him. If I would grow in grace, I must
continually, daily, constantly feed upon his life. God requires righteousness. I don't have any in myself and
I can't produce any in myself. And everything I do that men
look at and say that's good, I know is evil. And that'll drive you, that'll
drive you down. into utter despair unless you
feed on His righteousness. He's the Lord my righteousness.
By faith I take His righteousness just like we're going to eat
that bread in a little bit and I eat it. I feed on it and it
becomes mine. You can't separate it from me.
It's mine. That's my life. His blood. Oh, now that's water
indeed. That's drink indeed. His blood
atonement, oh, how that refreshes my soul. His blood atonement,
what wine that is for my heart, to cause my doubting and depressed
heart to leap and dance with joy, drinking of His precious
blood. The blood of Christ, God's Son,
cleanses me from all sin. That's where we get our nourishment.
And if you would grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ,
I urge you, children of God, I urge you, I implore you, I
call upon you, I beseech you for Christ's sake and your soul's
sake, spend all the time you possibly can meditating upon
and feeding upon the perfect, righteous life of Jesus Christ
as your representative, and the blessed, sin-atoning, substitutionary,
justice-satisfying atonement of Jesus Christ, death upon the
cross. Spend your time there. I keep
preaching it. I keep bringing it before you. I keep seeking from God new ways
to describe it and new ways to preach it so it'll ever be fresh
to you. Because I know the life of your soul is the blood and
righteousness of Christ. Feed on it. Feed on it. Spend
every waking hour you can meditating on it and feeding on Him. His blood There's our atonement. God, the Father, hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. You need that, buddy? Oh, I need
that. I need that. And I'm going to tell you this,
you feed on that and you'll grow in faith. You feed on that, your
hope will grow. You feed on that, you will grow
in love. You'll grow in love. The cause
of the atonement is God's love. The cost of the atonement is
Christ's precious blood. The consequences of the atonement,
my sins are gone. God's reckons out to me and me
to God. That's it. We must exercise the
grace of God that he has given us if we would
grow in grace. Not only must we have the nourishment,
but there's got to be some exercise. We exercise faith by deeds of
faith, and as faith is exercised, it grows. Now, if you belong to God, he'll
see to it that you exercise faith. Faith is acting according to
what we believe. The Lord God made Abraham a promise. He said, now, Abraham, I'm going
to give you a son. And in that boy, all the nations
of the earth will be blessed. I'm going to be your God, and
you'll be mine. And I'm going to give you a seed
as numerable as the sands that are by the seashore, and as the
stars of heaven for multitude, which no man can know. What a
promise. Now Abraham's an old man. He's
an old man. And his wife's an old woman.
Older than anybody here. Old. Old folks. You want anybody
to see this? He went into his wife, Sarah,
believing that God He acted according to his promise. That's called
exercising the Lord. Well, now Abraham and Sarah have
got a boy, Isaac. And he's grown now. That boy's 16, 18 years old. But Abraham needs to grow, too.
And the Lord said, Abraham, here I am, Lord. I was always in that. He said, I want you to take your
son, your only son, Isaac, whom your soul loves. I want you to
take him to a mountain three days journey from here. I'll
show you where. And offer him as a sacrifice to me. And Abraham staggered not at
the promise of God through unbelief. He killed that boy. He killed
that boy. Fully believing that God was
able to raise him from the dead. That boy is the one through whom
all the promised seed must come. That boy is the one through whom
the promised Messiah Redeemer must come. And Abraham said,
God who promised can perform. God who gave me this boy from
his dead mother's womb can give me this boy back from the dead. I'll obey God. I'll obey God. That's how faith grows. That's how it grows. This is
what I'm saying. The more we trust Christ, the
more we prove God by faith. And that's what it is. Every
act of faith is to prove God, to prove him. Is he as good as
his word? The Lord said, go into the city
and you'll find an ass and a coat of an ass and when the fellow
stops you when you start to untie him, tell him the master has
need of you and he'll send him along the way. I wonder if we
could do that. I wonder if we could do that. I'm coming down to get you a
car. The Lord has need of you. We could if we believed God and
he sent us. who believed God and he said it. You follow me?
Go and prepare a feast in a room. Just go tell the fella down there
that the Lord has needed a place to break bread with his disciples.
He'll give you a feast in a room. He'll do it. And they asked it
according to the word. Where we gonna get money to pay
tribute to Caesar? Go down to the river and the
first fish you catch, open his mouth, you'll get tribute money
for Caesar. You can't believe that. Why, that's not reasonable. That's not responsible. Oh, now
you crossed too far. That is the greatest point of
responsibility, to believe God. Let's go down and catch the fish. The Lord comes out. Simon's been
toiling all night long. Hadn't caught a thing. The Lord
says, Simon cast a net on the other side of the ship. Can you
imagine how many times he had already cast that net over on
the other side? They've been out there fishing all night long.
And he's an experienced fisher. He knew what he was doing. He
knew how to catch fish. And Simon said, Lord, we've toiled
all night. Nevertheless, at thy word, at
thy word, we'll cast in the net. And he did. Look at the fishes
he brought. What I'm saying is this, if we
dare to live by faith, God teach me that, teach me to live by
faith. Shutting out every earthly means
of support and live by faith, we would grow in faith, We exercise hope by casting away
all hope but Christ, clinging only to Christ, hoping only in
his word, only in his grace, only in his power, only in his
work, and as we do, hope grows. Tribulation worketh patience,
and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh
not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Confident hope is something that comes only
by experience. Only by experience. You can't
have it without that tribulation that causes you to flee to Christ. And like faith and hope, love
grows by exercise. The more you love somebody, the
more you love them. Huh? That's right. The more you
forgive, the more forgiving you are. The more you serve, the
more serving you are. The more you forbear, the more
forbearing you are. The more you suffer long, the
more long suffering you are. Love grows by exercise, exercise. Doesn't come natural to us, does
it? It grows by exercise. But in order for us to grow in
grace, we must also have the discipline of our Heavenly Father's
chastening rod. Foolishness is bound up in the
heart of a child. Now it is. And as only one thing
takes care of that, the rod of correction drives it from him. And that's true of God's children.
Bob Ponce was so much foolish, he found that things were hard
enough. Thank God he couldn't drive it
away. He couldn't drive it away. His chastisement is not his anger. It's not his wrath. It's not
his displeasure. It's not his punishment of our
sin. But every son whom he loves, he chastens. He chastens to teach
us to believe in and to hope in Christ and to love him. He'll do it. That's what we read
in Hebrews chapter 12. By one means or another, our
heavenly father will see to it that we exercise faith, hope,
and love that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. One of the old writers said this.
He said, I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what I ought to
be. And I'm not what I hope to be.
But blessed be God, I am not what I once was. And by the grace
of God, I am what I am. How about you? Are you a living,
growing child? Or are you an empty, dead, lifeless
professor of religion. If I have nothing but a form
of godliness, it'll never grow. Forms don't grow. You can tack
on new rooms to them, but forms don't grow. You can add to them,
but forms don't grow. But the power of an endless life
grows, grows. feeding on Christ, exercising
life by the discipline of God's grace, we grow in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.