The Grace of God Experienced

Q: What does the Bible say about spiritual growth and grace?

The Bible teaches that spiritual growth is a combination of God's work and our response to His Word. Spiritual growth involves both the sovereign grace of God and our active participation. According to 1 Peter 2:1-4, believers are encouraged to lay aside sin and desire the Word of God like newborn babes. This indicates that while God initiates our salvation and growth, we are called to pursue holiness and righteousness actively through obedience and engagement with Scripture. Peter emphasizes that we are redeemed entirely by grace, yet we must respond to God's grace by seeking spiritual nourishment from His Word.

Q: How do we know that we are elected by God?

We know we are elected by God through faith in the gospel as testaments of His work in our hearts. Election is a profound mystery grounded in God's sovereign grace. Ephesians 1:4-5 reveals that we are chosen before the foundation of the world. This divine choice is confirmed in our heartfelt response to the gospel. As 1 Peter 1:2 states, we are elected according to the foreknowledge of God through obedience to the truth of His Word. The assurance of our election is evidenced by our faith in Christ and the ongoing work of the Spirit in our lives, leading us to believe and obey.

Q: Why is obedience important for Christians?

Obedience is essential as it is the evidence of our faith and growth in Christ. Obedience is a vital aspect of the Christian life, reflecting our new identity in Christ and our response to His grace. In 1 Peter 1:22, believers are called to purify their souls by obeying the truth, which demonstrates genuine faith. Furthermore, obedience is not a means to earn salvation; rather, it arises naturally from being transformed by God's Word and Spirit. In Ephesians 4, the church is reminded that spiritual maturity results from using the means God provides, including obedience, to grow in unity and knowledge of Christ.

Q: What is the role of the Word of God in spiritual growth?

The Word of God is essential for spiritual growth, as it nourishes and guides believers in their faith. The Scriptures play a crucial role in the spiritual growth of a believer, as highlighted in 1 Peter 2:2, where believers are instructed to desire the sincere milk of the Word. Just as infants rely on milk for growth, Christians depend on the Word of God for spiritual nourishment and maturity. The Word provides truth, correction, and encouragement, which are necessary for a believer's development. Additionally, God's Word equips believers to engage in good works and resist temptation, thus fostering a fruitful Christian life.

I judge by the way I hear them
talk and preach. Some people think that inward
grace and spiritual growth is God's work entirely and only,
and man has nothing to do with it. Their theology is this, that
God saves us and God sanctifies us and God works his will in
us. And how we live and how we think
and how we conduct ourselves is out of our hands. We need give no concern to the
matter of spiritual growth, of holiness, of gracious living
and attitude and spirit. These people seem to be afraid
to speak of works in any shape, form, or fashion. They're afraid
of the word works. But yet the scripture says, let
your light so shine before men that they may see your what?
Good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. But
there are those that this seems to be the direction of their
message is that this thing of salvation and spiritual growth
and godly living is all in the hands of God and I have nothing
to do with it at all. But then there are others who
think that this inward grace and spiritual growth is man's
work entirely, that God saves us and he hands to us the means
of grace and he waits to see what we'll do with it. And he
waits to see what we'll make of ourselves. They seem to indicate
that we're saved by grace in Christ, and then we go to laws
and rules and regulations and duties to find sanctification. But in the epistle of Peter,
the first epistle, Peter cuts both of these areas out by the
roots. He deals with both of them. On
the one hand, he plainly declares that we are the elect of God.
We didn't choose him, he chose us. We didn't love him, he loved
us. We love him because he first
loved us. He has begotten us again by his
Spirit. He has put within us a new nature
and a new heart and a new direction. This is all of grace, all of
God. And we make absolutely no contribution
to it whatsoever. Look at 1 Peter 1 verse 18. Peter says, for as much as you
know, you know this, that you are not redeemed with corruptible
things. as silver and gold from your
vain conversation or behavior received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot." Nothing, absolutely nothing that
I ever did before God saved me or after God saved me had anything
to do with God saving me. Nothing I did before God saved
me or nothing I thought or nothing I did or thought after God saved
me keeps me safe. It's all of grace, alpha to omega,
beginning to end. Like that article I had in the
Bulletin Sunday by Martin Lloyd-Jones, in which he told preachers, he
said, if your gospel that you preach does not bring from some
quarters the charge that you're an antinomian. He said you better
examine your sermons because you're probably not preaching
salvation by grace alone. So this is what Peter says here.
We're redeemed. We're redeemed. Saved by the
blood of Christ Jesus plus nothing minus nothing. But on the other
hand, that dramatic change is accomplished, that salvation
is accomplished, and it's continued and it's matured, not without
the Word of God, but through the knowledge and belief of the
Word of God. Is that not true? That salvation
is accomplished through the knowledge and belief of the Word of God.
Look at verse 22 of 1 Peter chapter 1. Well, let's read starting
at verse 20. It talks about we're redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ, verse 20. "...who verily was
ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you who by him do believe in God, that
raised him up from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith
and hope might be in God, seeing, though, You have purified your
souls in obeying the truth. You heard the truth. You received
the truth. You believed the truth. You obeyed
the truth through the Spirit. Unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
see then that you love one another with a pure heart perfectly."
In other words, we are the elect of God. We are the elect of God. But the elect of God hear the
gospel, and they believe the gospel. Look at 1 Peter 1, verse
2. We are the elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father. Nothing we do has entered
into the planning of salvation, or the execution of salvation,
or even the application of salvation. We are to elect according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit and obedience. Through sanctification of the
Spirit and obedience. What does Paul say in 2 Thessalonians
2.13? We are bound to give thanks for you, brethren, beloved of
the God, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Not without means, but through
means. We are elect of God, but the
elect of God hear the gospel, and they believe the gospel,
and without hearing and believing the gospel, they'll never be
saved. I know we're quickened by the Spirit of God, but we're
quickened by the Word of God. Look at 1 Peter 1.23. 1 Peter 1, being born again, not
of corruptible seed or parentage, but we're born again of incorruptible
seed by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. And
James says, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth. We're elected, we're chosen of
God, and God comes To those sheep, Christ said, My sheep hear my
voice. They hear my voice. And they
believe. A man is not saved without the
word of God. He is not saved without faith.
He is not saved without believing. This word is brought to bear
upon the soul and the heart by the Spirit of God and brings
life of his own will, beget he us with the word of truth. As
men as were ordained to eternal life did what? They believed.
They believe. Hold your hand there, 1 Peter,
and turn to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1. Listen to this, verse 14. Now this first chapter of Ephesians,
of course, is that great chapter on election and predestination
and sovereignty And God hath made us accept in the Beloved,
and in him we receive redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sin. But look at verse 13, Ephesians 1, 13. In whom you
trusted, when? After you heard the word of truth.
In whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth. The
gospel of your salvation in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." Now that's
so. A man is elected by God, elected
of God in Christ, chosen to salvation. His elect will be saved. But
Almighty God has chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. And the gospel is the power of
God unto salvation. And where a person is saved,
the gospel is going to be somewhere around. Either read by him, or
witnessed to him, or preached to him. He's going to hear that
gospel. Not only with these ears, but
he's going to hear it with the heart. And he's going to be given
an understanding of that gospel, and he is going to embrace that
gospel with faith. The Holy Spirit doesn't believe
for you, he enables you to believe what you believe. The Holy Spirit
doesn't confess Christ for you, you confess Christ. If thou shalt
confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine
heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Now that's so. Now also, this is true. We are the elect of God, we've
heard the gospel, we have received that gospel, believe that gospel,
we're children of God. God has appointed the same means
whereby you came to faith to enlarge that faith. God has appointed
the same means by which you came to life to make that life to
grow. God has appointed the same means
by which you were born again to nourish that life and bring
you to maturity. Now, God's appointed these means,
and let's look at these means. Over in Ephesians 4, I said it's
by the Word of God that men hear. It's by the Word of God that
men believe. It's by the Word of God that
men are saved. They're born of the Word of God.
It is also true that they mature in faith and grow in grace by
the Word of God. Now, we immediately say to a
person that if you don't hear the Word, you're not going to
be saved if you don't hear the Gospel, if you don't listen to it and
hear it and seek the Lord in His Word. Well, let me tell you,
we who are believers and are children of God, if we neglect
this Word, And the teachings of the Spirit of God through
this Word, we're not going to grow. We're not going to mature
in the faith of Christ. Ephesians 4, listen, verse 11,
And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers. What are these men? They're teachers
of the Word, preachers of the Word. Why? For the perfecting,
for the maturity of the saints. for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. These men are sent,
yes, to preach the gospel, and souls are saved and men are born
again and come to faith in Christ, but these same people who preach
are to be teachers of the world, that those who have received
the gospel and believe it may grow, may be mature. Read on. till we all come in the unity
of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a mature
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,
that we henceforth be no more children, infants, weak in faith,
tossed to and fro, unstable, not established, carried about
with every wind of doctrine. by the slight of men, cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." How am I
going to get out of this trap here? By being taught, by using
the means that God has given. But speaking the truth in love,
that you may what? Grow up? Grow up into Him in
all things. It always has to do with Him.
It's growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ. It always
has to do with Him. Growing in grace and in the knowledge
of Christ. Birth has to do with Christ.
Life has to do with Christ. Everything has to do... One other
scripture. Turn, if you will, to 2 Peter
chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter 1, let's begin with verse
2. 2 Peter 1, 2. Grace and peace be multiplied
unto you through the what? Knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord. Grace and peace what? Multiplied. Multiplied, yes. Grace upon grace,
peace upon peace, growth upon growth. according as his divine
power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and
godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and to virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great
and precious promises, that by these great and precious promises
you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped
the corruption that's in the world through lust. And besides
this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue, excellence,
manliness. Add to your virtue, knowledge.
Add to your knowledge, self-control and temperance. Add to your self-control,
patience. Add to your patience, godliness.
Add to your godliness, brotherly kindness. Add to your brotherly
kindness, love and charity. For if these things be in you,
and what? And abound, and grow, they will
make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is a principle. God
uses all these. He uses the Word, the preachers
of the Word. He uses a fellowship of believers.
He uses trials. All of these things are means
for our growth. And this is a principle that
we teach our children. Our children are born into the
home. They are our children. No question about that. They're
born, they're our children. And they have life. And then
we teach them this. They can be what they really
want to be. Isn't that true? We teach them. These little fellows
out here sitting before me, these parents teach them, now son,
daughter, you can be what you want to be. Whatever you desire
to be, whatever you want to be, you can be by making full use
of the means at your disposal. If you take correction well,
you'll mature. If you take discipline well,
you'll mature. If you study and apply yourself
in school and with your things that are taught you, you're going
to mature. If you seek the truth, you're
going to mature. If you have a commitment to excellence,
then you'll certainly attain some form of excellence. If they
desire, we tell them, if they desire to excel in any area,
the means have to be used. Is that not right? That's exactly
what the Scripture's teaching us right here, believers. That's
exactly right. Now, I preceded this message
by showing you I know salvations of the Lord. I know a person
born of God, redeemed of God, washed in the blood of Christ.
But I know that that person has to hear that gospel and receive
it, bow to it, believe it to be saved. Is that not right?
And I know when that person is saved, if he, here's the question,
do I really want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God?
Do I really desire to grow in faith, to have a stronger faith?
Do I really desire to love people and manifest that love? Do I
really want to be a blessing to others? Do I really want to
glorify God in my life? Do I really want to give, to
be a channel of blessings? Do I really want to forgive? Seventy times seven? Do I really
want to have some conquering power over this old nature and
this old flesh? Do I really want to be used of
God to bless my generation? Then I will do what I tell my
child to do. I'll make use of the means. If I really want and desire to
grow up and mature in Christ Jesus, and then I'll apply myself
to these principles set forth in His Word. Let's look now at
1 Peter chapter 2. I read a sermon by a fellow not
long ago along this line, and he gave this illustration He
said, you see a cat sitting over here, and you people who have
cats are well aware of this. I'm going to try to act like
a cat. Now they lick their paws, you
know, and they wash behind their ear, lick this paw, wash over
here. They just wash all over you,
just always cleaning themselves, always taking their paws and
cleaning themselves. You never see a hog do that. Never see a hog do that. A hog
is content to be a hog. A hog is content to be dirty,
to be caked with dirt. He can lie over there in the
mud and be just as happy. The difference is in the nature. Isn't that right? And a child
of God wants to be clean. He wants to glorify God. He wants
his life to be a blessing. He wants to grow and grow. Wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way, taking heed to the word
of God. Now look here at 1 Peter chapter
2. Wherefore, laying aside, what does it say? Lay aside? No, this is not a once for all
accomplishment. This is a continual effort for
His glory. Wherefore laying aside, and you'll
lay it aside again tomorrow, and you'll lay it aside again
next week, and you'll lay it aside again next month, and you'll
lay it aside next year. Laying aside, always laying aside
all malice and hatred, ill feelings. Laying
aside all guile and hypocrisies. Laying aside this this spirit
of envy and jealousy, laying aside evil speakings. These things that are contrary
to spiritual life and contrary to the glory of God and disagreeable
to spiritual growth, just keep laying them aside, laying them
aside, laying them aside. Turn to Colossians chapter 3,
and let's read something on that. Colossians chapter 3. Beginning with verse 1, Colossians
3, 1. If ye then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above. Seek them. They're not going
to fall into your lap. It's what I said at the beginning,
that this thing of growth and grace, it's not something with
which we have nothing to do. We have much to do with it. Much
to do. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and to do His good pleasure, but He says before
that, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Apply
the means. Seek those things which are above
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Verse 2, set your
affection on things above. Set it on things above, not on
the things of this earth. When you feel your affection
is being drawn to the things of the earth, set it on things
above. Do it. Do something about it. You're dead. Your life is hid
with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.
So mortify your members. Crucify them. Suppress them. Put them under. They're there,
and they struggle for recognition, and they struggle for expression.
But just shove them down. And it's not something you can
do once for all. It's laying it aside, mortifying
it all the time. Your memories put you up on the
earth fornication. uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, covetousness, which is idolatry. For which
thing sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience,
in whom you also walk?" That was your tenor of life. That
was the bed of your will. That was the direction we walked.
We lived in those. But now listen. You also put
off these things. Put them off. Put them off. Wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy communications out of your mouth, put it off. Does it say God's going to put
it off for you? No, it says you put it off. You
put it off. And line up one to another, seeing
you put off the old man with his deeds and put on Putting
off and putting on, and it's all the time, put off these old
things, put off this old nature, suppress it, crucify it, and
put on that new nature, which is renewed in knowledge after
the image of Him that created Him. Putting off the old man,
putting on the new man. All right, back to our text in
1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, verse 1. If you want to grow in grace,
want to grow in faith and love, want to be a channel of blessing,
want to be mature, grow up in Christ. Grow up in the faith. Be no more children tossed to
and fro by every wind of darkness. Then lay aside these things,
verse 2, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word
that you may grow thereby. Somebody says, well, how can
these things be done? You talk about growing in grace
and growing in faith and love and hope and being a blessing
to others and glorifying God in your daily life and learning
to give and learning to forgive and learning to conquer this
old flesh and being used of God to bless our generation. How
do you do that? Well, how can you grow in these
areas? Here are two vital things set
forth here in verse 2 and verse 4. Here it is. The first one
in verse 2. As newborn babes, and that's
what we are, and that's what we are, desire the sincere milk
of the Word that you may grow thereby. Here's the way a man
grows. He grows by feeding upon the
Word of God. feeding on the Word of God. Now,
I see several things here. First of all, how do I approach
the Word of God? I don't approach it as a theologian.
I don't approach it as a learned person. I approach it as a newborn
baby. I approach it as an infant, as
a child. The Scripture says, if any man
thinks he knows anything, he doesn't know anything like he
ought to know. And one of the prophets said,
Lord, I'm a child, teach me. Now that's the way, as a newborn
baby, recognize your infancy, recognize your ignorance, recognize
your need for teaching, and as a newborn baby, desire the sincere
milk of the word. Then, approach it in humility,
willing to be taught. willing to be reproved, willing
to be corrected. And then thirdly, what do we
approach? We approach the sincere milk
of the Word. Sincere means it's pure. It's
the unmixed Word of God which is sweet to the taste, sweet
to the taste. It's not the words of men or
the writings of men that are going to bless me like the Word
of God. That's what I've got to get into.
His Word. You see, it's by the Word of God that faith comes.
It's by the Word of God that comfort is given. Wherefore comfort
one another these words. It's by the Word of God that
correction comes. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for correction, reproof, instruction. It's for the Word of God that
knowledge comes. I approach the Word as an infant, not as a theologian,
as an infant. I approach it in humility. And
I come to the pure, unmixed Word of God. And then this. Actually, a newborn baby doesn't
need anything but milk. Do you know the first few weeks
of a baby's life? That's all he lives on, milk.
In fact, you won't mess him up, give him something else. That's
all, his mother's milk, that's all he gets. The days he's in
the hospital and the days when he comes home, that's all he
needs is his mother's breast, mother's milk. That's everything
he needs. Now if you go to some artificial something, you've
got to mix K-Rose syrup with it and water and stuff like that.
But if you go to the sincere pure milk from his mother's breast,
That's all it is. And I'll tell you, all these
methods and means and rules and regulations, I don't need them
for growth. I need the sincere milk of the
Word of God. I'm talking about growing now.
I'm talking about sanctification. I'm talking about maturity. I'm
talking about development. I'm talking about growing up.
I'm talking about some victories. I'm talking about some peace. I'm talking about someone's able
to stand when the wind blows so hard and the trials are so
heavy and the burdens are so many that he's mature. And this is the way. The first
thing he says, as newborn babes, Come to the Word. Come to the
Word. All right. That is verse 3, taking
for granted that you've tasted that the Lord is gracious. A
man without life's not going to grow. A person not saved,
they're not going to grow. They're going to be... A religious
hypocrite's going to be one no matter how much scripture he
reads. But if you've tasted the Word of God, you've tasted that
the Lord is gracious, you'll grow. All right, here's the second
thing. How can these things be done? How can I grow? If you've
tasted that the Lord is gracious, verse 4, to whom coming? To whom coming? Believing on
Christ, coming to Christ, and I wish I could make this as clear
as I'd like to make it. It's not an isolated act. It's continually believing, continually
coming to Christ. I feel like we've done a disservice,
an injustice to people who've heard most preachers preach by
insinuating that there's a time and a place, and I've got to
be careful here, but there's a time and a place when I got
saved. You know what I'm saying? Somebody
always says, well, I got saved, I got saved, I got fixed up,
I got all this thing settled. And it leads to the wrong impression.
That does. Repentance is not an isolated
act. I cannot say I have repented. I have repented, I am repenting,
I better keep on repenting. I cannot say, well, I have believed,
I believed on Jesus, I'm saved. When were you saved? 1950, 1945, 1940. I got fixed
up. I went down there, shook the
preacher's hand, made a professional, got baptized, joined the church,
fixed. You may have a false profession. You may be hiding in a refuge
of lies. How do you know you're saved? I'll tell you how you
know you're saved, if you keep on believing. If you keep on
coming to Christ. That's what it says. It didn't
say to whom I came. It says to whom coming. I have
believed. I am believing. I shall, by the
grace of God, believe. I have been saved. I am being
saved. And my salvation is nearer than
when I believe. I'm telling the truth. I don't
ever stop coming to Christ. John Newton said, if I hadn't
loved you before, let me begin today. Why? Let me ask you this. What profit
is there in defending an experience when experience has nothing to
do with salvation? What profit is there? I don't
know. I think maybe we might feel like
we're going to lead someone to think that we haven't known all
these years, you know. Well, so what? If God's pleased
to save me tomorrow, I'll rejoice because I don't want to miss
Christ. What's the profit in defending an experience? What's
the profit in defending a profession? Paul, listen to Paul over here
in Philippians chapter 3. Can we say this in Philippians
chapter 3? Listen to it. Philippians 3 beginning
with verse 8. Philippians 3, 8. Yea, doubtless,
and I count all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and I do count them but done, that I may win
Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know him." and that I may know the power
of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being that
I might be made conformable to his death, if by any means I
may attain to the resurrection of the dead. I haven't already
attained. I'm not already perfect, but
I follow after. I press forward if I may lay
hold upon that for which I've been laid hold of by Christ.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. I haven't
arrived. Just one thing I do. I forget
those things which are behind. I'm reaching forth, reaching
forth unto those things which are before. And I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ. To whom coming? To whom coming? We're not trying to impress anybody.
We don't have anything. with which to impress them. I
came to Christ for salvation when I heard the good news of
his grace. I came to Christ for forgiveness
when I was made aware of my guilt. I come to Christ for comfort.
I come to Christ for strength. I come to Christ for daily provision. I come to Christ as my intercessor
and mediator and I'll keep coming to Christ till he comes to get
me. And that's the way to grow. Desire
the sincere milk of the word and just keep coming to Christ.
Keep coming to Christ. The simplicity of Christ. The
simplicity of Christ. Always, and I ran into this a
lot of years ago, always beware of anything religious, or otherwise,
that's better or greater than just knowing Christ. You agree
with that, John? Anything that eclipses Christ
Jesus is not of God. I don't care if it's a baptism
of the Holy Ghost, or a second work of grace, or a manifestation
of gifts, or the ability or power to speak with tongues. These
are all just things. Christ is life. And anything,
any stage or experience or anything in future days, any position
to which you come, that seems to be of greater significance
and of greater importance and sweeter than when you tasted
that the Lord is gracious. God's not in it, because Christ's
going to have all preeminence. To whom? Coming. To whom? Coming. I don't believe that a true believer,
I'm talking about a true believer, I don't believe a true believer
is ever satisfied with himself. I don't believe it. I don't believe it. David said,
I'll be satisfied when I wake with his likeness. Never satisfied
with himself. I don't believe a true believer
is ever satisfied with anything he does. or any sermon he preaches
or prayer he prays or gifts he gives, I don't believe he's ever
satisfied. Do you? I don't believe a true believer
is satisfied only to be saved and have a hope of eternal life.
I believe true believers want more knowledge of Christ. I believe
true believers want more understanding of his person and his work. I
believe true believers want to crucify the old man. They want
to manifest the grace of God in their daily walk. They want
that peace that passeth understanding. They want that rest of God to
rule in them. And this can only be experienced
by two things. Desiring the sincere milk of
the word and coming to Christ. Coming to Christ. Charles Spurgeon
wrote this, a believer sets out on this journey of life and he
has to travel many a day before he reaches his home. And oh,
what changes he experiences along the way. Today it is fire, the
next day there is a thunderstorm. Today he's on the mountaintop,
tomorrow he's in the valley. Today the trees are green and
the birds sing and there's not a cloud in the sky. Tomorrow
he walks between the rocks in a narrow gorge where all is cloudy
and dark. Such is our journey, ever-changing,
but one thing is sure and never changes, our Lord and his Word. Our Lord and His Word. Change
and decay in all around me I see, O thou that changest not, abide
with me. I do not know what tomorrow holds,
but I know who holds tomorrow. I do not know where my road may
wind, but I know where it leans. Surely goodness and mercy will
follow me all the days of my life, and I'll dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. But till that day, in this changing
world, I hold to two unchanging things, my Lord and His Word. So, as newborn babes desire the
milk of the Word, And to whom coming, as unto a living stone,
O disallowed indeed of men, rejected of men, scoffed at by men, but
to you that believe, he's precious. Precious to the Father and precious
to you. All right, Mike, come lead us
in a young place.

The Grace of God Experienced

What does the Bible say about spiritual growth and grace?

How do we know that we are elected by God?

Why is obedience important for Christians?

What is the role of the Word of God in spiritual growth?

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The Grace of God Experienced

What does the Bible say about spiritual growth and grace?

How do we know that we are elected by God?

Why is obedience important for Christians?

What is the role of the Word of God in spiritual growth?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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