Title: Sustained Growth/Ephesians 4:7-16
Content Continuous growth/Ephesians 4:7~16 Rev. Kiho Um
To be alive means to have “life”, to “move” and to “grow”. If you plant potatoes or radishes, water and fertilize them, they will grow well, sprout leaves, and produce luscious fruits. that is impossible. Because there is no life. A person called Knight said, “He who grows up never grows old. When you stop growing, you only grow old.” Robert Browning said, “Man was created to grow, not to stop.”
Dear saints, However, the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we cannot grow at once. If you believe in Jesus and live your life, there are times when you make mistakes, sometimes you get frustrated, when you cry, and sometimes you get discouraged. Sometimes we fall into the temptation of sin, sometimes we fail, and sometimes we get pointed, and sometimes we get criticized. But it is gradually becoming more and more mature. It is the fruit of faith, the fruit of the Spirit, and the fruit of good deeds, little by little, but more and more.
Growth has many forms. There are quantitative and qualitative growth, external and internal growth, visible and invisible growth, etc. Just as normal growth should be balanced in weight and height, and external and internal growth should be harmonious and balanced, so our faith growth should also include an internal aspect of maturity rather than simply growing up. The outward acts of faith must also grow, and the invisible inner man must also grow.
Faith must grow day by day. A living faith is one that matures and grows day by day. If our faith does not grow properly, we become spiritually crippled. Therefore, you must not become an old chicken that boasts only the age of faith and has stopped maturation of faith.
In the early church, the number of disciples from 12 increased to 70, and when 70 received the Holy Spirit in Mark's upper room, the number increased to 120. As they dispersed and started the evangelism movement, the number of members increased to 3,000 or 5,000. The number of believers increased day by day. It's not just numbers that have increased. It was a mature church that was able to fight and overcome tribulations and hardships that came from outside. It is like the growth of a large tree with its branches continuously extending upwards and its roots extending into the ground.
In order to become like Jesus Christ, we must have continuous growth until we meet at the Second Coming to become like Jesus Christ. Building a single building cannot be done in an hour or a day. By design, starting from the ground up, the house is built day by day. So, what should we do to grow our faith?
goals should be clear
Verse 13 says, “And we will all become one in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, until we become a perfect man, even to the stature of the stature of the stature of Christ.” Who are you growing up to here? Here is the goal setting of how much will you grow? That goal is Jesus Christ. As I become more like Jesus and the church becomes more like Jesus, our faith will continue to grow.
In order to grow like Jesus, you must first eat the Word. When newborn babies get enough milk, their life is strong and they grow up healthy. In order to live a mature life of faith like this, we must eat God's Word well. In other words, just as a person must eat well in order to be healthy, we must eat God's word well to lead a mature Christian life. The saints who eat God's word with joy, read and learn the sweet word like honeycomb, and eat the word very deliciously no matter who preaches it, will bear abundant fruit.
Also, in order to become like Jesus, we must lead a life of prayer. In order to do the work of service according to the gifts the Lord has given, and to become builders of the Lord's body, we must pray without ceasing and pray always. I hope that you will meet the Lord every morning and enjoy the power and the authority of heaven to the full. May you receive the guidance and guidance of the Holy Spirit in your daily routine. Pray with determination, pray with fasting sometimes, pray all night, pray while guarding the temple. Answers will surely come, mighty victories are guaranteed throughout life, and your faith will mature day by day.
And, you must meet the Lord. Just as sunflowers receive the energy they need toward the sun, and fish receive life only when they meet water, we, as creatures, gain life and grow with strength only when we meet God the Creator. The problems of life are solved by meeting God, and the wanderings of faith are solved in fellowship with God. Therefore, I pray that you will change your actions and change your mind, receive the Lord's mercy, receive the forgiveness of sins, and become victorious in your faith life.
resist temptation
Verse 14 says, “This is so that we will no longer be children, that we should not fall into the tricks of men and the deceitful temptations of men, and be driven and tossed by every wind of doctrine.” Even when a child is growing up, if he is subjected to malnutrition or mental and physical pressure that hinders his growth during the development period, he or she will not be able to develop. If you do not eat well when you are growing up, do hard physical labor during the development period, or carry a lot of burden, growth will be hindered. The same goes for spiritual growth. What is hindering your continued spiritual growth right now? If we are oppressed by the temptations of sin and the winds of the world, our faith cannot grow. It destroys our lives, destroys our homes, and plunges our lives into death. No matter how beautiful and sweet and fragrant it may appear on the outside, sin continues to tempt us.
The famous theologian and sociologist John Bradley Shaw once said, “If you want change and growth, you have to know how to say goodbye.” The writer of Proverbs says in Proverbs 23:7, “… As the heart thinks, so is the great man... '" And the psalmist said in Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful... ” he said. Even if it looks good on the outside and the current position seems comfortable, if it is hindering our faith growth, we have to boldly say goodbye and get up and run away. We need to throw away our wrong ways, we need to throw away our wrong thoughts generously, and we need to distinguish between a place to sit and a place to lie down. In order for our faith to grow and to become mature people who build up the body of Christ, we must cast away dirty thoughts, turn away from the twisted path, and turn away from the path of sin.
let's do our duty
God distributes special talents to each individual for the service of the church. God grants various gifts for His chosen children to achieve the ultimate unity of the Church. Salvation is the total grace of Jesus Christ, but so is the grace given to us by Jesus Christ to carry out our special mission. The church is the body of Christ. The body and the head are indivisible and are one body wholly bound together. We must be united by one body, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and one Spirit.
The church is a place where you receive the power of the Holy Spirit and have fellowship in the Holy Spirit. We must love the church that has the blood of Jesus Christ, love each other, and carry out our missions with a humble attitude of heart, passion for loving the soul, hot tears from our hearts, and the faith that can endure and endure trials and tribulations. do. Let the saints help one another to reach the fullness of Christ, the highest level of maturity, in knowledge and trust in faith. Let the church not be swept away by unwholesome and false churches, and let the purity of the faith continue. Just as the joints of the body are connected to each other and help maintain the health of the whole body, so the church is closely connected with Jesus Christ so that it can continue to grow in good health. Therefore, the ministers and saints in charge of the Lord's work must do their best.
And, let us be perfected men of God, perfected to do good, and grown to the measure of the full-grown Christ. I hope that you will become mature Christians and mature saints who glorify God. Do not be satisfied with the present, but continue to grow and become newer, and I hope you will love Jesus, love the church, and love the saints with all your heart, mind, strength, and life until you meet Jesus Christ as the Second Coming Lord. And I wish you a life of loyalty, service, and devotion.