Growing In Grace

Remember as a child That I had one great ambition
above all others An ambition above All other ambitions
I think when I tell you what it is that you'll say the same
thing is true of you more than making money More than getting
an education more than traveling and seeing the world more than
really being a success or a failure or whatever. Because I didn't
know what I wanted to do. But one thing I did know, I wanted
to grow up. I wanted to get to be 21 years
of age. I wanted to be an adult. I remember
all when I was a child, when I was a teenager and in high
school, I wanted to be an adult more than anything in all the
world. And I believe that since I've been converted since I've
been born into the family of God, since God has been pleased
to give me, I believe, spiritual life, especially in the past
several years. The greatest desire of my spiritual
life is and has been to grow up. I want to grow up. I want to be a mature believer. I don't want to be an infant,
a babe in Christ. I don't want to be childish.
I want very, very, very much to be mature. Paul talks about
writing to those who are perfect, writing to those who are mature,
that you be no more babes in Christ. But it took me a while
to grow up physically. It took me a good many years.
And it's taking a while for me to mature spiritually. But I'm
still, I still want that very much. And I think that spiritual
growth, growing in grace, is dependent really on three things.
First of all, recognizing the need. I think that has to be
established. A need has to be established.
If we're going to have a goal, we've got to see the need for
that goal. And secondly, cultivating a desire
to attain that goal. And then thirdly, and most importantly,
employing the means of growth. Now those three things are essential.
First, you've got to want it. I want to grow up. I want to
be a mature believer. I want to be a spiritual adult. I want to be an elder. not in
office, but in principle, and cultivate a desire to attain
that goal, and then employ the means of growth. Now let's look
at three verses. The one I read a moment ago,
verse 15 of Ephesians 4, speaking the truth in love, that you may
grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. All right, now turn with me to
1 Peter 2, that you may grow up into him. 1 Peter 2. We're not going to be separate
entities here, we're going to be in Christ. We're going to
mature in Christ, grow up in Christ, be spiritual adults in
Christ. In 1 Peter 2, verse 2. As newborn babes, desire the
sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby, by the
word. All right? 2 Peter 3, verse 18,
2 Peter 3, 18. One with which you're quite familiar,
but grow in grace, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now I hope there's some folks
here tonight, and I believe there are, who are conscious with me
of our need to grow up, to mature in Christ. And not only are conscious
of the need, but we're interested in growing up. We're interested
in growing in grace. We're interested in a more mature
knowledge of Christ. Spurgeon said this about this
particular subject, he who knows Christ will long to know Christ better. He who knows Christ will long
to grow in his likeness. He who longs not to know more
of Christ knows nothing of Christ. He who longs not to be more like
Christ is not one whit like him now." That's how serious he thought
the subject was. All right, what is it to grow
in grace? Let's get right into the subject.
I think one of the faults that people have with preachers, us
preachers, is we dally too long and repeat too much. Let's get
right into the subject, then. What is it to grow in grace?
Well, in the first place, there's got to be life. There's got to
be life for there to be growth. You can take a fence post and
stick it in the ground and it won't grow. There's no life. But you can put a plant, a sapling
in the ground, and it will grow because it already has life.
There can be no growth in grace if there's not grace already
implanted. There can be no growth in the
knowledge of Christ if there's not already some knowledge of
Christ. You can plant a rock in the soil
and it won't grow, but a seed will grow because a seed contains
life. And a man cannot grow in grace
until he's been made an object of grace. God has got to implant
the grace of life if there's to be any growth. If there's
to be any spiritual growth, there's got to be spiritual life. What
is it to grow then, assuming that there is life, that we have
life, that we have a beginning? Well, first of all, faith will
grow. We will grow in faith. We grow
from a trembling faith that cries with a centurion, Lord, I believe,
help my unbelief. We grow to that faith of Abraham
that staggers not at the promises of God. That is growth in faith,
that spiritual growth. Faith will grow. We grow from
a trembling faith of the woman with the issue of blood. who
was sick for 12 years and who crawled through the crowd and
said to herself, if I can just touch the hem of his garment,
or if I can just touch him, I shall be made whole. And she touched
the garment and she was healed. From that faith, we grow to a
strong faith with the Apostle Paul that can say, I know whom
I have believed. We grow from that trembling faith
of the blind man who said, well, who is he, Lord? Who is he? Who
is he that I might believe on him? to that faith of Job who
said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. But remember
this, as faith grows, it will increase in simplicity. This
is something that you don't hear there often, but faith does not
grow more complex, it grows in simplicity. It rests more and more just on
Christ alone. I find that men, to me, become
better preachers, Charlie, as they become more simple in their
message. And I believe that men who are used of God, I watch
Spurgeon and Newton and these other men whom I read. And as
the longer they preached, the more simple their messages became. Just simple messages. I believe
faith, as it grows, increases in simplicity. It rests on Christ. We start out preaching, we're
so complicated, we want to appeal to people's intellect, and we
want to appeal to their wisdom, and we want to appeal to all
these things, and after a while we realize that faith doesn't
come that way. It doesn't come through intellectualism
and enticing words of man's wisdom and eloquence, it comes through
Christ in him crucified. And I believe faith as it grows
increases in simplicity. I believe faith as it grows increases
in perseverance. It's not shaken by every wind
of doubt that comes our way. I received a letter this week
from a young man out in the Federal Correctional Institute here in
Ashland. It's very difficult to handle things like this, but
I spent some time this afternoon answering his letter. A young
man by the name of Ramsey, that's his name, Ramsey, wrote to me
and he said he watched our TV program this past Sunday and
he was blessed by it, he enjoyed it. He says, I've been converted. He said, I've been baptized.
He named the local church here in Ashton where he's baptized.
And he said, Sunday a week ago, they let me come before the congregation
and tell how I gave my life to God and how God delivered me
from a life of crime. He said, I was just converted
three weeks ago. And I'd like to come before your
congregation and other churches throughout the tri-state area
and tell them how I was delivered from a life of crime. Well, I
wrote the young man. I appreciated his letter, and
I appreciated him writing to him, and I appreciated him listening
to the broadcast. And I suppose that curiosity
would cause us maybe to want to hear what he has to say. But
this is the thing I wrote to him. I wrote and told him that
I appreciate his letter and appreciate him watching the telecast, and
I have sincerely prayed that the telecast would be a special
blessing to him, and that that he would study the word of God
and that God would give him some growth and some knowledge of
Christ and that salvation was more than just being delivered
from a life of crime to a life of morality. And I pointed out
these things. I said, now you're in prison.
The thing that will matter is when you get out of prison. You're
under stress and strain and pressure right now. I said, I'm not looking
for people to talk who have made a profession of Christ under
this type of situation, but I'm looking for people to talk who
have persevered in Christ through the years. And I said, young
man, remember this, it doesn't take any more grace to save a
man in prison than it does one of the deacons in a Baptist church.
It doesn't take any more power of God to save a man in jail
than it does a man in church or in the pulpit. And I said,
it's no more miraculous. You're talking about your miraculous
conversion from a life of crime. Everybody God saves, he saves
from a life of crime, spiritual crime. We've gone to this thing
in this day of sensationalism in what we call conversion. Everybody
wants to hear from the prison to the pulpit and from dope addict
to spiritual dreamer and all this sort of, from the stage
to the pulpit. Hogwash, that's all I've got
to say about it. Everybody whom God saves, he
finds them on the downhill. Every sinner's a great sinner.
Every sinner's a murderer. Every sinner's a thief. Every
sinner's a blasphemer. Every sinner's a God-hater. And
I'm not looking for sensational young men that have made a profession
of religion to help them get out of prison. And I've run into
so many of those. What I'm looking for is that
persevering faith. Barnard said, it's not how loud
you profess Christ, it's how long you profess Christ. I'm looking for that man, and
I quoted this to that young man, he that endureth to the end,
see me when you get out of jail. Perseverance. Faith perseveres. And after a while, it's not shaken
by every wind. It'll stand in the wind of division,
the wind of question, the wind of false doctrine, the wind of
suspicion. All these things can blow on
it, perseverance. Whether in prison or whether
in the palace, it's faith in Christ. All right, growing faith
increases in strength. More and more it reaches and
draws its source of nourishment from this book. From this book. He said it. He said it. It's
not true because I think it or I feel it or I've experienced
it or somebody said it, but he said it. That's how I know it's
true. Then we grow in love. I believe
that the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts for
the Holy Spirit, if it be genuine, it'll grow in three areas. If
it's genuine. First of all, we will love Christ
more, Christ himself. Not just his church, not just
his doctrine, but Christ himself. Somebody said this, the spark
of early love becomes an all-consuming fire. We cannot survive without
his fellowship and his presence. Oh, there was a time when Christ
was the way, now he's the life. There was a time when he was
the means, and now he's our very heartbeat. There was a time when
he was the light, but he has been so formed in us that he
is now our altogether one. I believe we love the brethren
more. You know, we ask Christ to love us as we are. Finally,
we begin to love others as they are. Not as we want them to be,
not as we expect them to be. We ask Christ to take us, take
me as I am. I believe when we grow in love
for one another, we begin to take one another as they are
and love them as they are. What defeat for the gospel when
we have division among God's people. What a defeat, what a
crushing, stunning defeat for the gospel of Jesus Christ when
brethren are divided. Because that's the very foundation
of our family, is love. And when that foundation is gone,
we've got no reason to exist. What a blessing to see the people
of God dwell together in unity. What a defeat when they're divided. I believe we'll love all people
more if we grow in love. We grow in love for Christ. We
grow in love for one another. And I believe this, it shocks
me not to hear babes in Christ speak with bigotry. That doesn't
shock me because they are babes in Christ. It doesn't shock me
when someone who's been converted a week or a month or a year or
two or three years speaks of another race or a station in
life or someone of another denomination or persuasion with malice, with
hatred, but it shocks me to hear those supposed to be mature Christians
who hold these kind of feelings. Now that ought not to be because
if we grow in love for Christ and if we grow in love for one
another, I believe we'll grow in love for all people, and the
believer who is mature in Christ will not speak with malice or
bigotry or vengeance toward others who are not of their race or
their station in life or even of their religious persuasion.
They may not agree with them, but they still love them. Christ,
this is the goal to which we seek to attain, to love our enemies. to love our enemies. I believe we'll grow in peace.
Turn to Philippians 4, peace and contentment. What is it to grow in grace?
It's to grow in faith. It's to grow in love. It's to
grow in contentment and peace. Paul said in Philippians 4, 11,
not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned I have
learned the learning process, and this is the way it comes.
It doesn't come like this. It doesn't come overnight. He
says, I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be content, to
be content. And then he wrote in Hebrews
13, look at Hebrews 13, 5, Hebrews 13, 5, let your conversation Be without covetousness and be
content with such things as you have. Now I'm getting nearer
and nearer to the end of the journey of life. Nearer and nearer. It's like
Art was walking around the other day. He'd be 50 tomorrow, day
after tomorrow. He's walking around there saying,
I can't believe it. I can't believe it. I'm crossing 50. Halfway
to a hundred, didn't you? I can't believe it. Well, we
can believe it. We can believe it. Talking about
crossing the deadline, we can believe it. We're getting nearer
and nearer. Well, I don't want to come to the end of my life,
to old age, filled with fear and doubt and anxiety and unhappiness. I just don't want that to happen.
I want life As I go along and grow older, I want very much
to grow in grace so that I can come to the sunset years of life
in peace, with contentment and joy, to grow old gracefully. I don't think there's anything
that is more unlikable than a grouchy old so-called church member,
a grouchy old Christian, or a grouchy old theologian. I hope God will
enable us to grow old gracefully, to grow old gracefully with peace
and contentment and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then humility
will grow. There's been a world of jokes
about humility. Now, we need to take it seriously,
and I'll show you several reasons. Turn to the book of Proverbs.
I'll tell you the reason. We need to take this thing of
humility seriously. Because God does. Turn to Proverbs
6. Proverbs 6, verse 16. And you're
familiar with this. You probably don't even have
to turn to it to know what it is. Proverbs 6, 16. These six things
doth the Lord hate. Seven are abomination to him.
The first one, a proud look. A proud look. Listen to the scripture, here
are some, I'll just quote these, you're familiar with, pride goeth
before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. God resists
with the proud, he gives grace to the humble. Turn to Matthew
5, let's look at some of these. Matthew chapter 5, verse 3, our
Lord's Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, verse 3, blessed are the poor
in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Look at Matthew 23, verse 12. Matthew 23, verse 12. Our Lord
is speaking here. Matthew 23. Well, look at 11
and 12. But he that is greatest among
you shall be your servant. Whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted. 1 Corinthians 10, listen to this
verse, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 12, Wherefore let him that thinketh,
he standeth, take heed. And then one other, James 4,
verse 10, Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and he'll lift you up. I believe this very strongly,
that so much of our difficulty with others, when we have difficulty,
wherever it might be, not just in the Church but everywhere
else, can be attributed to our proud spirits. I think it's pride. Pride keeps us from saying forgive
me. Pride keeps us from saying I
was wrong. Pride keeps us from saying I'm sorry. Pride keeps
us from giving way to the other. To think that anyone would violate
my rights. To fail, just think that anyone
would fail to recognize my importance. Do you realize how important
I am? Do you realize how important
my feelings are? Do you realize how important
I am? That's pride, isn't it? Terrible, terrible pride that
demands recognition. And this is just about all of
our difficulty can be attributed to this old evil, wicked spirit
of pride, if we could just do something with it and grow in
humility. Psalms chapter 1. I want to show
you something here that I think is very beautiful. I want you
to take Psalms chapter 1 and let's look at it two or three
verses. Spiritual growth compared to a tree. Now, I found this
and I think it is just absolutely one of the most tremendous things
on this subject that I've come across in a long time. Spiritual
growth compared to a tree. Now what's Psalms 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 law
of the Lord, and in his law 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 also shall not
wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." A tree grows three ways. It grows
up, it grows out, it grows down. I turn to Galatians 5, and let's
compare this right here. Let's look at these verses in
the light of growing like a tree. Now, this will be beautiful to
you, I think, if you'll stay with me here. First of all, a
tree grows upward, upward, reaching toward God. reaching toward God. That's the way a believer grows,
reaching toward God. Here in Galatians 5, verse 22,
we have nine fruits of the Spirit. And these nine fruits of the
Spirit, one author said, can be divided into three areas. The first, our relationship with
God. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace. Love to God. Joy in the Holy
Spirit. Peace through our Lord Jesus
Christ. And we grow that way. We grow upward. Love for Him. If you love Him, you'll love
others. If you love Him, you'll love His Word. If you love Him,
you'll love His house. If you love Him, you'll love
His people. If you love Him, you'll love His creation. If
you love Him, you'll love His coming. Love to God. Joy in the
Holy Ghost. Peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. All right? Then a tree grows
outward. Look at the next three. Has to do with our relationship
with people. Long-suffering, that's patience.
Gentleness, goodness. A tree grows outwardly. Watch
it. As that tree grows outwardly, it gives shade to the weary and
to the tired. It seems to say to the weary,
come, come under my branches and find rest. and find shade
from the glaring sun, flee from the glaring sun and come under
my branches and find rest. A tree that doesn't give shade
or fruit is what? Worthless. Worthless. It's not worth the soil that
you've got that you're wasting by letting it grow if it doesn't
give some shade to the weary traveler or some fruit to the
hungry. This growth in our dealings with
others, growing patience, growing gentleness, real gentleness and
goodness. And it seemed like the great
shady tree to say to those weary pilgrims and travelers and sojourners,
You can find some stability here. Here's this great oak tree standing
here. You can find some stability. You can find some shade. You
can find some comfort. You can find some understanding. You can find some gentleness
and some kindness. It's immature believers that
drive people away from the church and away from Christ and away
from the gospel by their critical spirit, by their harsh words
that drive people away, instead of attracting people to themselves. I don't know what you've got,
but I'd sure like to have some of it. I don't know what God's
done for you, but I'd love to hang around you long enough to
find out what it is. This modern day religion is different from
that. A fellow gets religion and becomes
cantankerous, he becomes overbearing, he becomes impatient, he becomes
demanding, not inviting at all. But that big oak tree's inviting
on a hot, burning, glaring day in a desert, that old oak tree's
standing there, that weary traveler comes and sits down under the
branches and just finds some real comfort and some real shade. Patience, gentleness, and goodness.
And then a tree grows downwardly. It grows downward, planting its
roots deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper into the
soil. Try digging up an old oak tree that's been there 25 years.
Now that little sapling that's just been laid, growing there
for a few months, you can push it over, the wind can blow it
over, you can lean against it and it'll fall, but that old
oak tree, it's been there 20 some odd years, and no way in
the world you can get it down short of blasting it out. And
I'll tell you, as we grow, listen downwardly, downward, downward,
grow in faith, faith in God's covenant mercies, getting our
roots deeper, deeper, deeper into the Word of God, deeper
into the promises of God, deeper into the covenant of grace, growing
in faith. That faith becomes so strong
that hell itself can't move it. We grow in meekness. That's humility. I am nothing, he is all. We grow
in temperance. You know, impulsiveness, someone
said is juvenile. is immaturity. We're looking
for that person who is steady, steady in faith and steady in
meekness and steady in temperance, because his roots are deep. Five questions, and I'm going
to close with this. Let's get a little personal right
now. Here are five questions that I got from somewhere. I
don't even remember them. These were in my in my study,
five questions that test Christian maturity. Five questions that
test Christian maturity. Let's see how we score. Number
one, and I think this is certainly scriptural, ought to be number
one. How do I behave under severe trial? Boy, that's scriptural, because
you go through the Bible and you'll find that God sends severe
trials to try your faith, to test your faith, and so forth
and so on. And then he said, in the world
you shall have tribulation. I cannot live without being disappointed,
delayed, or defeated. Now, you can put that down. On
television, Monday night when I made tapes, the man who tells
you if you come to Christ your worries are over, you'll have
health and wealth and prosperity and happiness is a liar. He's
a deceiver. It's not so. God may do you like
Bunyan and put you in jail for 12 years to write a Pilgrim's
Progress. He may do you like Benjamin Keats and put you in
the stocks out on the streets of London and make you a laughing
stock. I don't know what God will do. dearest treasure in
your life away from you to make you what he wants you to be.
You can't live a life for God without sorrow, sickness, or
sin invading your life at some time. Now, the test of my maturity,
and I want to be honest with you and speak my mind. I have been more disappointed
in the pastoral, not in people failing and falling. But I've
been more disappointed in people and come away from the presence
of people with tears in my heart as I observe how they behave
under trial. It tells me more than anything
else. I watch people and how they behave
under trial and I tremble for them. I worry if this profession
you have and this faith you have won't bear you up under this
little weight How will you stand in the crossing of the Jordan? I just don't know. I know we're
going to stumble and fail and fall and lose our temper and
say things we shouldn't say and all that, and that doesn't bother
me. But what bothers me is when God Almighty visits you with
a little affliction or a little trial or a little trouble and
you go to pieces. That scares me to death. There's
nothing in the world that scares me more than to watch a so-called
believer who can't take a trial. I just believe that person's
in trouble because he, as the days go by, one day he's coming
to the swelling of the Jordan. And if he can't take this, how
will he fare in that day? He won't fare at all. So I'm
telling you, a test of Christian maturity is how do you behave
under severe trial? I'm not saying it's a test of
your salvation. It may be that too, but I do know it's a test
of your faith and a test of the strength of it. God's on the
throne. That's one thing to have as a
doctrine. It's another thing to have as an experience. God
is sovereign. That's one thing to believe in
your head. It's another thing to believe in your heart. God doeth
all things for his glory and my good. That's one thing to
rattle off to a Sunday school class. It's another thing to
walk the streets out there firmly believing in him. Sure is. Here's the second test of Christian
maturity. Do I have the capacity to change? Do I have the capacity to change? Immaturity is not having it. That shows utter immaturity.
What you say, I'm going to still stand right where I am. The mature
believer can be taught. In fact, he's always seeking
to be taught. He's trying to change his ways. He's trying to convert from error
to truth, correct his error, and walk in the truth. He wants
to be genuine. The mature believer can be corrected. Yes, sir, you can correct him.
He won't get mad and pout with you. He won't quit church. He's
subject to rebuke. He knows it. He wants advice.
He wants counsel. He seeks rebuke. The mature believer
speaks in terms of goals he hopes to reach and plans he hopes to
accomplish. The immature believer speaks
of what used to be. I used to be this and I used
to be that and I used to do this and I used to do that. That's
not maturity, that's immaturity. Maturity forgets those things
which are behind and presses forward towards the prize or
the mark of the high calling of Christ. The mature man can
say I'm wrong. The mature man can say I'm sorry. The mature man can forgive and
he can reach and take the ruins and rebuild. The mature man speaks
in complimentary terms of others. The immature criticize and find
fault. They don't do anything, but they
find fault with those that do. That's immaturity. Do I have
the capacity to change? To change. All right, the third
question. Christian maturity. Do I keep
long friendships? Failure in human relationship
is evidence of immaturity. Failure in human relationship
is a sign and evidence of immaturity. Now many people, someone said,
have a new set of friends every year and lose friends just as
quickly as they make them. But maturity makes new friends
and maintains old friendships with sincerity and understanding. Do I keep long friendships? Friendship
built upon understanding, sincerity. I know people who are mature. They don't have to be babies. They don't have to see you every
day to love you or every week to love you. In fact, you can
just pick up right where you left off. If you don't see them
for six months, you can pick up right where you left off with
understanding, sincerity, because they're mature. The fourth mark
of maturity. Do I find greater satisfaction
in giving or in receiving? You know, all infants, all infants
are selfish. Yes, they are. Yours are too.
These mamas sure defend these children. I got on the kids in
Bible school this morning. I had two or three mamas get
on me. You know, if you can get past a mama, you might win that
child to Christ. But she's going to do her best
to let you know he's a good little boy, you know. He just doesn't
understand. Yeah, he understands. You just
think he doesn't understand. He knows just exactly what I'm
talking about. He's a little rebel, that's what he is. And
she gets up, he just, you know. But we all start out as infants.
We start out on the receiving end of everything. I, me, and
mine. I, me, and mine. After we grow
up a little bit, it becomes the other way, doesn't it? That's
maturity. If I could just come to the point,
I'm not saying I'm bad, I'd sure like to be, where it gives me
more pleasure to give than to receive. I heard a story one
time, I've got time to tell it. Two little boys were sitting
out in front of a tenement house in New York, very poor little
boys, so very, very, very, very poor, ragged and One of them
was a little old bitty fella, about five or six, and one was
about seven or eight, nine. They were sitting there together,
and this fella drove up in a beautiful new car, parked right out there
by the street. He went in the tenement house
to visit somebody, came back out, and one of the little boys
stopped him and said, where, said, said, that's a pretty car
you got there. The fella said, yes, said, I
just got it. Oh, he said, that's a pretty
car. He said, could me and my brother just sit in it? And the
man said, well, yeah, bring your brother and come on, sit in it.
So he opened the door and the two little brothers got up and
they sat down. The older one was the spokesman.
He was doing the talking. And he said, where'd you get
a car like this? And the man said, well, strange
that you should ask. He said, my brother gave it to
me. And that little boy, you know what he said? He didn't
say, I wish I had a brother like that. You know what he said?
Charlie said, I wish I could be a brother like that. There's
a difference. I wish I could be a brother like
that. If we could come to that point,
that's maturity. But in our infantile greed, the
first thing most of us would say, boy, I wish I had a brother
that had that kind of money. I wish I could be a brother like
that. Here's the fifth question involving Christian maturity.
can I really love? How much can I really love? Just
how much can I really love? What's my capacity to love? The
most important measurement of maturity is our capacity to really
care about other people. Is there more and more room in
my heart for others, or is my heart a small chamber that can
only provide room for me and mine How big is my capacity to really
care about other people? Blessed be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love, the fellowship of kindred minds
like to that above. Before our Father's throne we
pour our ardent prayers, our fears, our hopes, our aims are
warrant, our comforts and our cares. We bear our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear, And often for each other flows a
genuine, real, concerned, sympathizing tear, my capacity to love. Grow up. Isn't that a beautiful
verse there in Ephesians chapter 4, that speaking the truth in
love that you may grow up into Him. Our Father, we love thy
word. Thou knowest our hearts. Lord,
You don't look on the outward countenance, but on the heart.
I believe we can say tonight, many of us here can say, Lord,
Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that we love Thee,
and that Thy Word is a precious lamp unto our feet and a light
unto our path. And we love the Lord Jesus Christ,
not like we ought to, not like we want to, not like we even
expect to. But we pray that we may grow
in grace, that we may grow in faith. Our faith will be stronger,
persevering, Christ-centered faith. That we may grow in love
for thee and love for thy church and thy people and love for the
stranger we've never met. Love for the enemy. Love for
those who despitefully use us. Lord, deliver our hearts from
that hatred and malice that is so unspiritual, that is so damaging
to our own relationship with thee and with one another. Help
us to grow in humility. We're nothing. We know. When
we say we're nothing, we haven't told it all. When we talk about
our unworthiness and our rottenness and corruption, we haven't begun
to tell it all. Lord, make us conscious of our
unworthiness and humble us under the mighty hand of our Lord.
Grant unto us this growth, this growth in grace and in the knowledge
of our dear Son. For Christ's sake we pray. Amen.

Growing In Grace

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Growing In Grace

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