Growing In Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about growing in grace?

The Bible emphasizes that spiritual growth is dependent on the presence of grace, as seen in 2 Peter 3:18. The Scriptures instruct believers to 'grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ' (2 Peter 3:18). This highlights that true growth in grace can only occur when one has first experienced grace. Without grace, spiritual efforts are like trying to cultivate stones in rich soil—they won’t grow. However, for those who have received grace, spiritual growth is a natural outflow of that grace, leading to increased knowledge of Christ and maturity in faith.

Q: How do we know growth in grace is true?

Growth in grace is evidenced by a believer's increasing knowledge of Christ and manifestations of love and humility. Growth in grace is demonstrated through the tangible development of virtues such as love, humility, and a desire to know Jesus better. As stated in Philippians 3:12, Paul acknowledges his ongoing need for growth, emphasizing that spiritual maturity is a continual process. A believer recognizing their need and desiring to grow indicates a work of grace in their lives. Furthermore, as believers engage in the Word of God, they witness transformation and growth in their character and faith, confirming that they are indeed growing in grace.

Q: Why is growing in the knowledge of Christ important for Christians?

Understanding Christ deeply fuels spiritual growth and maturity in a believer's life. Growing in the knowledge of Christ is foundational for a believer's spiritual development because it directly connects to their growth in grace. As one learns more about the person and work of Jesus Christ, they begin to embody His character and commands, as reflected in Ephesians 4:11-13. This process involves learning to forgive, show love, and serve others as Christ did. Moreover, as believers grow in His knowledge, they become more equipped to navigate challenges, remain steadfast in faith, and contribute positively to the body of Christ, thereby achieving the completeness and maturity that God desires for them.

Q: What are the means of growing in grace according to the Bible?

The means of growing in grace include engaging with Scripture and fellowship within the church. The Bible outlines several means through which believers can grow in grace, primarily through the diligent study of Scripture and participation in the life of the church. As indicated in 1 Peter 2:2, believers are encouraged to 'desire the sincere milk of the Word' for their growth. This appetite for God's Word, coupled with the teaching and preaching of pastors and elders (Ephesians 4:11-12), plays a critical role in equipping believers for service and maturity. Additionally, engaging in fellowship with other believers provides encouragement, accountability, and opportunities for mutual growth in faith.

All right, let's open our Bibles
tonight to the book of 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 3. I'm just going to read one verse
of Scripture and use it for my text. 1 Peter chapter 3, verse
18. And the apostle says, but grow. in grace, but grow in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be glory,
both now and forever. Amen. Now, the title of this
message is Growing in Grace. And there is but one place to
begin a message on growing in grace, and that is to state two
important things. The first of which is this, there
can be no growth in grace where there is no grace. You can just
forget it. There can be no growth in grace
where there is no grace. The dry bones remain dry. The dead bones remain dead, unless
the Spirit of God blows upon it. And there can be no spiritual
growth where there is no spiritual life. It's an exercise in futility,
and religious people never seem to learn this. But it's an exercise
in futility to set forth rules and regulations and laws and
requirements for people who do not know God. It's an impossibility to grow
in grace where we have not been a partaker of grace. You can
take a stone and plant it in the richest soil. You can bathe
it in sunshine. You can water it every day and
it will not grow, it's a stone. But a plant which has life, even
a seed which has life, the tiniest of plants, will grow. And the richer the soil, and
the more sunshine and rain, the more it will grow. And that brings
me to the second important thing. The first one is this, there
can be no growth in grace where there is no grace. There can
be no growth in the knowledge of Christ where man has not met
Christ. But the second thing is this,
if there is grace present, and if life has been given by God,
there definitely will be growth. Anything that lives grows. It
does not stand still, it grows. If it has life, it grows. Anything
that has life grows. But the amount of growth depends
on three things. The first of which is this. If
I desire to grow in grace, I must first recognize my need for growth
in grace. I need to grow. Now turn with
me to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians chapter 3, and listen
to the Apostle Paul. Here is the old, white-haired,
veteran preacher of the gospel. Here he is in prison in Rome,
writing to the church at Philippi. And this is what he says. He
says, in essence, the same thing that John Newton said, I'm not
satisfied with me. John Newton said, I'm not what
I ought to be, I'm not what I want to be, I'm not what I expect
to be, I need growth. And that's what Paul is saying
here in Philippians 3, verse 12. He said, not as though I
had already attained, I haven't arrived, I'm not perfect. I'm not perfect in doctrine,
by no means. I'm not perfect in deed, I'm
not perfect in thought nor spirit. I'm not perfect But I follow
after that I may apprehend," and that word is lay hold, "...that
I may lay hold upon that for which also I have been laid hold
of by Jesus Christ." Brethren, here I am a veteran of years,
a man of great gifts, a man of great revelations, a man who
was taken into the third heaven. But he said, Brethren, I count
not myself to have apprehended. I don't understand everything.
I'm not an example for everybody, but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. I need to grow. I need to grow. And as long as
I live, I recognize a need to grow in grace. and in the knowledge
of Christ. Turn to 2 Peter again, chapter
1. This was read tonight in the
study, and it fits so well right here on this particular point.
Assuming that there is grace, assuming that there is spiritual
life, the amount of growth depends first of all on recognizing a
need for growth, recognizing a need. And this certainly lets
us know that we need to grow. Listen to this, 2 Peter 1, verse
5. And besides this, giving all
diligence, add to your faith. There are some things to be added.
Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue, knowledge, and to
knowledge, temperance, and to temperance, patience, and to
patience, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly
kindness, love. Add these things. That's growth,
isn't it? Fine. If these things be in you,
if these things be added to your faith, if you grow in these things
and abound in these things, overflowing these things, They make you that
you shall neither be barren, idle, nor unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that watcheth, he that
lacketh these things, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience,
godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, he that lacketh these
things is blind. He can't see very far. And he
has forgotten something, that he's purged from his old sins.
Not only do I have a need to grow, but if I'm going to grow,
there's got to be a desire to grow. Turn to Luke chapter 17. Our Lord said something about
willing. to do the will of God. He said
something, James said something about desiring wisdom. It's recognizing my need and
then sincerely wanting growth. I want to grow. I want to grow
in grace. I want to grow in the knowledge
of Christ. Here in Luke 17, now listen to this. Now here are
the two things I've been talking about, seeing a need and having
a desire. If you're going to grow, you've
got to see the need of growth. I've got to see the need of growth,
and I've got to want to grow. In Luke 17, verse 3, listen.
This is the Master speaking. Take heed to yourselves. If your
brother trespasses against you, rebuke him. But if he repents,
forgive him. And if he trespasses against
you seven times a day, he agitates you seven times a day. He aggravates
you seven times a day. And seven times in a day turn
again to you saying, I'm sorry, I repent, I didn't do you right,
forgive him. What do the apostles reply to
that? They said, Lord, increase our faith. When he set that before
them, when he set brotherly love before them, that kindness, that
forgiveness, that mercy. And his requirement to give him
seven times a day, seven times, seventy times seven, he said
to Peter. What did they recognize? A need.
And what did they say? Increase our faith. They desired
it. They recognized that what he
was saying here they could not produce, but they wanted to. Lord, increase our faith. I must
employ the means for spiritual growth. Turn to 1 Peter 2. What
are the means? Well, we know that faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. How do we grow in
grace? How do we grow in the knowledge
of Christ? I'll tell you, through the reading of the word, through
the preaching of the word of God. This is the way we grow,
doing exactly what we're doing right now. In 1 Peter 2, verse
1. Therefore, laying aside all anger,
malice, and all guile, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking, as newborn
babes, as children of God, desire the sincere milk of the Word,
that you may grow thereby." This is the way we grow, studying
the Word of God, reading the Word of God. letting the Word
of God rebuke us and reprove us and convict us and strengthen
us and instruct us and comfort us. Well, turn to Ephesians 4. This is the purpose for a pastor,
too, pastors and teachers and the elders. Listen to Ephesians
4, verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists,
missionaries, and some he gifted to be pastors and teachers for
the perfecting, for the maturity of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying, the teaching of the body of Christ,
till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a mature man. unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ." In other words, that completeness
that is found in him. So we come to that completeness,
maturity. "...that we be no more of us
fourteen children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness
whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love
may grow up." There is the word, that we may grow up, grow up
into him in all things, who is our head, even Jesus Christ. Mr. Spurgeon wrote this on this
subject. He said, He who truly knows Jesus
Christ will always long to know him better, and he will long to grow in his
likeness. And he who longs not to know
more of Christ knows nothing of Christ yet. He who longs not to know more
of Christ knows nothing of him yet. And he who longs not to
be more like Christ in his conversation and conduct is not yet one whit
like Christ. I found this little poem I thought
was so good. Lord, I want to live as one who
knows the fellowship of your love, as one whose eyes can see
beyond just pearly gates above. Does that register? Lord, I want
to live as one who knows the fellowship of your love now,
as one whose eyes can see beyond just pearly gates above, as one
who daily walks with thee and loves thy word divine. And through
all my remaining days at your table, let me dine. Let deep humility and faith and
love be joined in me with godly fear, and all my conversation
prove my heart and love to thee is sincere. All right, what is it to grow
in grace and to mature spiritually? Well, I know this faith. One time a preacher preached
here, and he said that when a person believed on Christ, he said that's
it. There's no increasing faith.
If you believe, you believe. If you don't believe, you don't
believe. But there's no increase. I beg to differ with that. Our
Lord Jesus Christ spoke of what? Little faith and great faith. Did he not? And let me ask you
this, is there not a difference in the trembling faith of the
centurion who said, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief, and
the faith of Job who said, though he slay me, I'll trust him? Is
there not a difference in that faith? Is there not a difference
in the faith of the blind man who said, the blind man who was
made whole, who said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe?"
And Paul who said, I know whom I have believed, is there not
a difference? Both believed. But I guarantee
you Paul's faith when he wrote those words, I know whom I have
believed, is far stronger and greater than that man who said,
well, who is he that I may believe? There's a difference in the faith
of Peter. who sat by the fire and denied
his Lord. And the man who wrote these words
I just read, is that not true? There's a difference. And I sure
hope there's a difference in the faith of the man who stands
before you now, growing white-headed and looking
at the setting sun than the young pastor who stood here at 29 years
of age almost 40 years ago. I hope there's a difference.
Faith grows. And I'll show you how faith grows.
First, and faith grows on the Word. It grows on a diet of the
Word of God. There's no other word. Desire
to sin, sear milk of the word that you may grow. These precious
promises, Cecil, you read about. The precious faith, the precious
blood, the precious word. These things, this word, that's
how you grow in faith. But faith grows several ways.
First, it grows in confidence. It grows in confidence. I am
persuaded that he is able. And I believe the more I learn
about him, the more I'll be persuaded that he is able. Abraham believed
that God was able to do all that he promised. That's confidence.
And Paul stood one day on the deck of a ship and looked around
about him at these experienced seamen, these experienced mariners. They were panicking. They were
troubled, they were throwing things over the side, they were
getting ready themselves to jump over the side of that ship. And
here's a man who certainly wasn't a sailor. He was a lot of things,
but he wasn't a sailor. But he stood on that deck of
that ship and he said, Sirs, be of good cheer. I believe God
that it shall be exactly as he told me. That's confidence. That's how faith grows in confidence. And secondly, faith grows in
peace, contentment, rest. The more we believe God, the
less alarmed we'll be when the winds of error blow about us. I find this confessing to you
my own experience. I know I run into some of you
and you hear some preacher on television, he just upsets you
something, you just get plumb out of shape, bent all out of
shape. And I understand that, but I believe this, the more
you grow in faith, the more that won't bother you. The more that
won't bother you. The more confident a man becomes
in what he believes, in whom he believes, the less upset he'll
become with the error about it. That's right. He just becomes
confident, confident. He becomes confident and trials. It's going to be all right. God
has control of all things. When the winds of adversity blow,
it's all right, for all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.
Believe it? Do you believe it? Yeah, I believe
it up here. When it gets down here, it will
have the real effect upon you that it ought to, when it gets
down here. Up here, it leaves you to spout off and spin off
and everything else, but when it gets down it enables you to
rest. It will be all right. So faith
grows that way. It grows. And this is what I
want you to hear, too. And this may sound strange to
you, but I don't believe it will to most of you. Faith grows in
confidence, faith grows in strength, faith grows in contentment, faith
grows in peace. and rest. But as faith grows,
it grows in simplicity. Simplicity. What I'm saying is
this. And you know to say something
grows and matures and develops, and yet it becomes more simple
and less complicated, that's a bit confusing. You know, when
a person knows more about math, the less you can understand The more a person knows about
trigonometry or some of the science, medicine, the more degrees a
doctor has, the less you can understand him. But the more a man grows in faith,
the more simple becomes his confession, and the more simple becomes his
preaching, and the more simple becomes his confession of faith. What did Paul say? He didn't
give them some rhetoric on faith. He said, Sirs, I believe God. That's pretty simple, isn't it? Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
11. Listen to this. That's right. The more faith grows, the more
knowledge and understanding of the Lord God grows, the more
simple becomes its expression. The less complicated our worship, the less complicated our organization,
that's right. I went to hold a meeting for
a preacher one time down in Florida years and years ago, and he had
organized a church. And he and his members had spent
six to ten months drawing up a constitution. They had three
families. They had a constitution that
was as thick As a Ashton telephone book, they had worked for months
on how to take people in, how to vote them out, how to elect
officers, how to elect deacons, how to elect elders, how to do
this, how to do that, where you could go, where you couldn't
go, how many services you could miss, still be a member, how
to conduct theâ€”they had all of that figured out. And the pastor
handed me that thing and he said, I want you to read that and tell
me what you think about it. I just glanced through it, and
he said, what do you think? I held it over the waste can
and dropped it. Six months' work. Got into the waste can. I said, I tell you, when you
worship God and preach the gospel and fellowship in the things
of God, this is all you need. This is all you need. And the
longer you know him, the less complicated your organization,
the less complicated your bylaws, the less complicated your worship,
and the less complicated your preaching. It will be Christ. And even the little children
can understand you. He loved me and gave himself
for me. He died just for the unjust to
bring us to God. Preaching is communication. If
you are not communicating, you are not preaching. In 2 Corinthians
11, verse 3, one of Paul's great fears was this, I fear, lest
by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, crackedness,
so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity of Christ. That's right, as faith grows,
it grows in simplicity. It's Christ in you. That's the
hope of glory. Somebody said, write me a paper
on the hope of glory, Christ in you. Write me a paper on life, eternal
life. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall we appear with him in glory. As faith grows, it becomes less
complicated, less intellectual, less involved, less organized,
less talk, less rhetoric, and more confidence in Christ. Believe in God, I wait on God,
I rest in God, I find all I need in Christ. Something else that
will grow besides faith is love. Do I need to love more? Do I? I'll give you one verse that'll
prove you do. One verse. This is my commandment,
that you love one another as I love you. Now, do I need to
go along? You love one another as I love
you. Woo! That's the reason Paul said,
my little children, I travail till Christ be formed in you
and in me. We ask the Lord to love us as
we are, don't we? If he loves me at all,
he'll have to love me like I am. It takes us a little while to
love others as they are, doesn't it? So let's don't quit. Let's grow in love. I'll tell you this, I found this
written somewhere, as love grows, as it grows and expands, it leaves
less and less room for malice. Bigger love, the less room for
it. It leaves less room for malice
and envy and jealousy and hard feelings. I'll tell you something
else that will grow. And that's this thing of humility
and contentment. I know there have been a lot
of jokes about humility, but it's no laughing matter. God
resists at the proud. He gives grace to the humble.
Scripture says seven things God hates. The first one listed is
a proud look. Paul said in Romans 12, brethren,
you ought not think of yourself more highly than you ought to,
but to think soberly. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 10. Let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall." Oh, grow in humility. So much of
our difficulty with other people is not for the glory of God.
Most of our understandings are not for the glory of God. Most
of them are not for the cause of God and truth. Most of them
are just our silly pride. That's where it is. And I read
something here. You probably heard me give this
years ago. You know, this applies to me.
I'm getting nearer and nearer to the end of the journey. I'd
sure like to grow old gracefully, wouldn't you? I'd like to mature. Let me read this to you. This
is anonymous. Author unknown. Lord, you know better than I know myself
that I'm getting older and will one day be quite old. Keep me from that fatal habit
of thinking that I must say something on every subject and on every
occasion. Release me from craving to try
to straighten out everybody's affairs. Make me a thoughtful
person but not moody. Make me a helpful person, but
not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom,
it seems a pity not to use it all. But thou, Lord, knowest that
I want a few friends at the end of the journey. Keep my mind free from the recital
of endless details. Give me wings to get to the point. And Lord, seal my lips on my
aches and pains. They're increasing every day,
and the love of telling about them grows sweeter as the years
go by. I dare not ask for grace to enjoy
the stories of other people, but help me to listen to them
with patience. I dare not ask for improved memory. But I ask for a growing humility
and a less caught sureness when my memory clashes with somebody
else's memory. Teach me the glorious lesson
that occasionally I may be wrong. Isn't that something? And keep
me reasonably sweet. I do not want to be overly pious. Some of those people are awful
hard to live with. But a sour old person is one
of the crowning works of the devil. Give me the ability to see things,
good things, in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people,
and give me the grace to tell them so. Isn't that good? I need to grow. But you know
something? Turn back to my text. Let me
try to be brief here. Turn back to my text. in 2 Peter
3. It says here in verse 18, grow
in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. In other words, all
growth in grace is centered in growing in the knowledge of Christ.
Did you know that? The more I know of him, his person
and his work and his grace, the more I'll grow in grace. You
know why? Because he said, you love one another as I love you.
Paul said, let this mind be in you, which was in Christ. Our
Lord said to his disciples, if I've washed your feet, you ought
to wash his feet. He's the example. He says, forgive
as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. He says, take my
yoke upon you and learn of me. In other words, as I learn, as
I grow in a knowledge of Christ Jesus, then I'm going to grow
in grace. Let me give you an illustration.
Turn to Psalm 1. In Psalm 1, here's an illustration
in this matter of growth. I'll be through in a moment,
but let me show you this in Psalm 1, this matter of growing in
grace. It says here in Psalm 1, verse 1, Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
but his delight is in the word of the Lord. And in the word
of the Lord doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be
like a tree, planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth
his fruit in his season, his leaf shall not wither, and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper." God compares this believer, this
child of God, to a tree, planted by a flowing stream of water. How does a tree grow? A tree
grows three ways, did you know that? Three ways. It grows upward. It grows upward,
reaching toward God. It grows downward, planting its
root deeper and deeper and deeper. And I'll tell you after a while,
you couldn't move it. Sometimes a tree, some trees
will even wrap their roots around a rock. It grows downward deeper
and deeper. It grows out. It grows up toward God. It grows down deeper, planting
its roots deeper and deeper and deeper. And it grows outward
to give shade to the weary traveler. And in Galatians, don't turn
to it, but you know it by memory, Galatians 5, The fruit of the
Spirit. Three things. Love, joy, peace. That's toward God. Growing in
love, joy, and peace. And the second three is patience,
gentleness, and kindness. Come find shade under me. Let
me be a help to you as you travel along your road and give you
some fruit. And it grows thirdly, downward,
faith, humility, and temperance. That's growing. And that's the
way believers grow, upward toward God, outward to minister to others. And it becomes that little old
sapling just, hmm, it's a little bit precarious, you know, but
that old oak just If you leave it there a while, then I shall
not be moved. Got those roots deep. I wrote
some questions. I wrote these to myself, but
I'll share them with you. Don't you say I gave you these
talking to you. I'm talking to me. You can listen
in if you want to. But here's some questions that
help me to know and recognize spiritual growth in me. They
may be a guide to growth. Quickly. Here they are. Number
one, have I really learned to wait upon the Lord and rest in
Him? Number two, how do I react to
trial and disappointment? It's a test of growth. Thirdly,
how do I respond to correction? teaching and correction. Mature
believers are always learning, always being corrected by the
Word. They don't get angry when you correct them. Fourthly, do
I have the capacity to change or am I so set in my ways and
personality that I can't change? I'll tell you growth is change. And growth is changed for the
better or it's not growth. Can I change? Fifthly, is it
difficult for me to use words like, I'm sorry, I was wrong? Is that difficult? Is it just hard to come out,
you know? Number six, do I compliment more
lately or criticize more? As I get a little older, do I
compliment more or do I criticize and find fault and more? Which do I do the most of? Number
seven, can I keep long friendships? That's a pretty good test of
maturity if a person can keep long friendships. Eighth, do
I find greater satisfaction in giving or receiving? which gives me the most delight,
giving or receiving. In the ninth place, has my appetite
for the Word of God increased? And the last one, honestly, do I really love the
Lord and His people?

Growing In Grace

What does the Bible say about growing in grace?

How do we know growth in grace is true?

Why is growing in the knowledge of Christ important for Christians?

What are the means of growing in grace according to the Bible?

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Growing In Grace

What does the Bible say about growing in grace?

How do we know growth in grace is true?

Why is growing in the knowledge of Christ important for Christians?

What are the means of growing in grace according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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