The Part We Play in Our Spiritual Growth

There is a simple fact that conversion and spiritual growth is a cooperative process. The most important part of the cooperative process is the help that we receive through God's Holy Spirit. Today, I'm going to talk about our part that we play in our own spiritual growth. Before we launch into it, let me repeat what I just said. The most important part is that heavy lifting is done by God. God doesn't do it all for us for a very good reason.

We have to participate. Elsewise, we will not grow spiritually. It's through God's Holy Spirit and the guidance of Jesus Christ living in us that gives us the strength and the faith that we need to succeed. But you know what? There's our side also. Those aspects that we personally have to do with, through, and this is very important, the choices that we make. We're presented with choices and we have to make the right ones. A lot of times, we make the wrong ones. It takes us backwards in our spiritual growth process. These personal choices manifest themselves in several different ways. Today, I'm going to address five of them.

Five key areas that we in the Austin congregation need to pay attention to year in and year out as we walk, our spiritual walk, towards the kingdom of God. Those five are, if you're taking notes, our heart, number one, the things that matter to us most, the things that really motivate us. Number two, our depth of knowledge. Number one is our heart. Number two isn't just knowledge. It's the depth of our knowledge. The clarity of our understanding of the Bible's fundamental principles and our awareness of our relative ignorance.

How well do we or do we not know the Bible? Number three, our personal responses, both to God and to other people, directly affects our spiritual growth. We'll get into all of these today. Four, our mixture of pride versus humility. We all have some of both. Hopefully we lean towards humility. But our mixture of pride and humility determines how fast we grow, or even if we grow, towards the character of God. And then fifth, it's not really a catch-all, but it's an overview. And that is our investment, our personal investment in this growth process.

God does the heavy lifting. We have a part to play. Spiritual growth requires a great deal of discernment and action on our part by the choices that we make. So let's begin with the biblical guidance that establishes the concept that we actually need growth. Because a lot of people don't get that.

That it's not just a one-time event. Salvation is a process that lasts from the time you're baptized, or if you're children, from the time you learn, because you are guided by God, until you breathe your last and you're gone. And then you're finished. Let's establish that. 1 Peter 2, verses 1-5, if you're a note taker. 1 Peter 2. Notice the concept from Jesus Christ and the apostles that he taught, that we are responsible to grow, to grow up, to mature. 1 Peter 2, verses 1-5, Therefore, laying aside all malice, He's going to go through several things that we're supposed to put off, that we're supposed to grow in.

Laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, all evil speaking. Then listen to the analogy. As newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word, why? That you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable through Jesus Christ.

We are being built up. We are supposed to grow. Yes, God does the heavy lifting, but we have a part to play. Matthew 5, verse 48. Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus sits down on the side of a hill, and the crowds gather around him, and he gives the purpose for his ministry in this sermon. And in Matthew 5, verse 48, he says, Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Now, a lot of people hear that word perfect in English, and they think without flaw. If I am without flaw, if I don't make a mistake, then I'm perfect. And that's actually not what that word means. Now, God is without flaw. Don't get me wrong. He doesn't make mistakes. But without flaw means on the outside. It means externally, I don't make mistakes.

That is our American concept of the word perfect. But that is not the Greek concept. According to Thayer's definition, it means to be full grown, an adult, of full age, or mature. In other words, the concept that Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount, He was saying, become grown up, as your Father in heaven is completely mature.

So, Jesus Christ, from His own mouth, told us, you and I have a job to do. We have to grow. Paul picks up on this growth process in Ephesians and explains how grown up we are to become. And actually, Jesus Christ said it too, as God is in heaven. Paul goes even further in Ephesians 4, verses 11-15. Ephesians 4, verse 11.

There is that word again, perfect man, grown up man, fully mature person. How mature? To the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ. That we should no longer be, and listen to this description, children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine and the trickery of men. We should not be gullible Christians. And there are a lot of doctrines that are going around now. I am visiting with people that are interested in coming to church, and yet they are frequently coming from the Messianic Jewish groups, where they have different varying beliefs on the deity of Jesus Christ, and differences on the calendar, differences on when the Sabbath day actually is, it drifts depending on when the new moon is, and all kinds of... And if we are children, we get caught up in those. And I see that year after year after year, people getting caught up and just swept away. Wow! You mean we've been doing it wrong the whole time! And they just leave everybody that they love for some pet doctrine, some wind of doctrine. And what does that mean, according to Paul here? They're not grown up. They were weak. They were children. They were tricked. And we are not to be that way. In the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things unto him who is the head, Christ. So, what I wanted to establish with those three Scriptures is, hey, you know what? We can't just be sitting on our rear ends as Christians, coming to church, and going out into Austin, which is, you know, by their own admission, a weird city.

And blend in, you know, six days out of the week, and then come here, shake each other's hands, and say, good to see you! How was your week? Great! Good sermon! See you later! See ya! And we're right back into camouflaging ourselves into society that isn't immoral, it's amoral. Amoral means against morality. They're not just immoral anymore. They're against us being moral now. What? That's intolerant. You can't believe that. It's not just one way to salvation. There's many paths to the top of the mountain. It doesn't matter how you get there. Right?

No. There is an amorality in our society, and we have a job to do every day when our head comes off of that pillow. First, say a quick prayer. Second, grab a cup of coffee. For those of us who drank coffee. And then third, have a much more coherent prayer.

Right? So how do we grow? Well, okay. Growth happens when we make choices. And there are certain areas of our life where we have to make choices every single day. And the starting point, the foundation of it all, is our heart. Our heart, according to the Bible, when the apostles or even the prophets of old were talking about the heart, they were talking about the things that matter to us. That's our heart. The things that motivate us are our heart. Notice how our heart is a matter of choice. Interesting. A matter of choice. We choose what's important to us. It's not born into us. It's not genetic. It's not, you know, I'm just that way. No! Our heart is our choice. Psalm chapter 15 verses 1 and 2.

A Psalm of David. Psalm chapter 15 verses 1 and 2. David sure got the heart. Understood it. Notice what a righteous man or upright man does in his heart. Psalm chapter 15 verse 1. A Psalm of David. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell on your holy hill. We sing this hymn, right? Who's going to be in the kingdom? 2. He who walks uprightly, works righteousness, and listen to voluntarily what he does in his heart, speaks the truth in his heart. As if it's a choice! What is said inside your heart. The upright man speaks the truth in his heart, which means the opposite is also true. One who is not upright, one who is evil or wicked, lies to himself in his heart. Oh, I can get away with that.

The wicked are absolutely the opposite of those who walk uprightly. Let's check that out in Psalm chapter 36. Psalm chapter 36 verses 1-4. Now, I'm going to read this one from the New Living Translation. Psalm chapter 36 verse 1. From the choir director, a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. Truth is not in the heart. They refuse to act wisely and do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Okay, that's a choice. That is a matter of choice. What do we do during the week? Do we speak the truth in our heart? Or do we lie awake and think of how we can get away with whatever it is we want to get away with? Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil. So the righteous have to attempt to turn from evil. There's effort involved. You weren't just born that way. The heart is what matters most to us, what really motivates us. Psalm chapter 66 now, verse 18. We'll go back to New King James. If I don't say what it is, it's New King James.

Psalm chapter 66, verse 18.

Notice again, it's a matter of choice. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. So that's interesting. If we make a bad choice, God will also make a choice. God chooses whether or not He hears us. It's choice! If we choose the wrong path, God chooses to shut His ears. That may sound harsh, but it's not. It's actually love. That is the love of God. Tell us, no, child of mine, you are not going to get away with that. No?

So if God does not matter the most to us in our heart, then you know what? We won't be close to Him. There won't be a relationship. And we won't grow. Let's go to Matthew chapter 12. Notice how Jesus Christ picks up on this concept. Verse 34.

You know, the concept of perfection is outward. And you can come to church and appear to be quite a good Christian. You really can. So can I. I can get up here and just pretend to be a pastor, pretend to care, pretend to preach the Word with vigor.

Right? It doesn't mean anything unless it comes from the heart. And you too. Ok. So verse 34. Matthew chapter 12, 34. O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. And an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. Let's drop down, let's turn a few chapters over to 15. Matthew 15. And let's pick it up now in verse 7 through 9. Matthew 15 verse 7. The hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, These people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Our heart is the starting point for our spiritual growth. If we want to grow, we have to make a choice. And that choice is that we will speak the truth in our heart, that we will love God from the heart. In vain they worship me, verse 9. Teaching as doctrines things that aren't the truth, the commandments of men. Notice how that goes right along with the psalm. There's another thing that stunts our spiritual growth. And as we're walking towards the Passover, it's just, what, nine weeks away now? Eight or nine? Depends. The Passover is very close coming up. We need to start considering spiritual growth. And the next thing that affects our spiritual growth is our depth of knowledge. Now, what I mean by our depth of knowledge is, do you have a clear picture of the Bible's fundamental principles? And are you aware of your ignorance of the Bible's fundamental principles? Now, I'm not talking about doing in-depth scholarly exegesis of the book of Isaiah. Now, you can. In fact, I encourage you to do so. But before any of that is ever important, do you grasp the big picture? Do you understand, from the Word of God, what God's message of hope really is? Can you be talked out of it? Can you be convinced to go another direction? How deep is your knowledge? You know, Paul encouraged a young pastor, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 2, verse 14. Let's turn over there. 2 Timothy 2 and verse 14. Paul is telling the pastor to tell his congregation something. This isn't for the pastor. This is for everybody. This is for us. 2 Timothy 2. Now, this is 2 Timothy 2, verse 14. Remind them of these things. Charging them before the Lord, not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. Don't get into arguments over unprofitable things, things that you can't really know the answer one way or another, things that are just your opinion. Allow people to have their opinion. Paul is telling Timothy to tell the congregation.

Now, if you can rightly divide the word of truth, what does that mean? It means you can wrongly divide the word of truth.

The Bible says that the resurrection has already passed, and they overthrow the faith of some. So, if we aren't rightly dividing the truth, Paul warns us we can be overthrown. You know what? I've been a pastor now for nearly a year. So, if we aren't rightly dividing the truth, Paul warns us we can be overthrown. You know what? I've been a pastor now for 9 months, and I've seen people be overthrown.

It's amazing. They're not grown up. They're just babes. How deep is your knowledge? Be careful. Truth should not divide us. Let me say that again. Truth should not divide us. We may learn new things that we haven't learned. My father was a pastor for 54 years, and he was trained by many men, including a man named Herbert Armstrong, who a lot of you would remember. Herbert Armstrong was realizing that he was a leader in the church, and he wanted to live until Jesus Christ returned.

He realized, at some point late in his ministry, that wasn't going to happen. There was going to be another generation, and maybe a generation after that, to come. So he sat the men in a room, and he told them, Guys, you're going to have to pick up where I left off. What did he mean by that?

He was all about discovering what they called new truth. Everything was new truth back then. Now, there was nothing new about the truth. It was simply new to them. It's like a rerun you've never seen. If you've never seen it, it's new to you. There's all kinds of episodes of shows I've never seen.

So I can click through the TV, because I hardly ever watch TV. And wow, great new show! It's all kinds of things on TV for me. Because it's new to me. And he was into that. Discovering new truth. And he told the pastors who are my dad's age. You know, late 70s, early 80s. Those guys. You need to pick up where I left off and discover new truth. So there may be something we don't yet know. And we'll discover it. Guess what that should never do?

Divide us. Never. If it does, we're not grown up. The truth should protect us at all times. Paul considered it the very first part of the armor of God. The very first part of the armor of God was truth. Amazingly. Ephesians 6, verse 14. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth. Paul is describing a Roman soldier's armor. And the belt. Do you remember?

Sean Vinnish described the belt. When he went through the armor of God series. Do you remember him describing how if you didn't have a belt in the Roman army, you actually weren't a citizen. You weren't a member. You were a slave.

You were on the outs. You weren't on the in. And if they wanted to do a disciplinary action, what would they do? They would force the soldier to remove his belt. And he would have to walk through camp without a belt. Even though they knew he was a lieutenant, he was now a slave. He was now humiliated. And Paul takes this analogy of this belt. This very important garment. I mean, it held the sword. It held any insignia that gave his rank. It held little armor that hung down to protect his legs.

The belt was an incredibly important piece of equipment of any Roman soldier. And the belt showed that he was a member of that society. What is our belt according to Paul? The truth. Without it, Paul is saying, you're not a member. You are not a citizen if you don't have the truth. How important is the truth in our spiritual growth? How important is your dedication to having depth of knowledge of the truth? Well, it should be high priority.

1 Thessalonians 5, verse 21. Paul tells us, 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 21, to test all things. You're supposed to test the sermon I'm giving today. You're supposed to be scratching your chin, going, Hmm, I wonder if that's true. I'm going to look that up. I wonder what that side comment he made really meant. You're supposed to test it! Now, don't be testy. Don't be a grump. But get it wrong. Be kind. But you're supposed to test it. You are. Hold fast to what is good. That's why we're supposed to test it. So that we don't get tripped up and taken off the path that God has set for us.

So, you and I have a part to play in our own spiritual growth towards the Kingdom of God. And part of our instruction is to learn and test and hold fast. Why? So we're ready for action. That's why you would do that. Your mind is supposed to be ready to react. You know, in a proper way. When problems come up.

Peter tells us that. 1 Peter 1, verse 13. He takes this concept of a belt. Now, Peter does. And he runs with it. 1 Peter 1, verse 13. The word gird means tie something with a belt. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober. And rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you at the revelation of Christ.

So Peter's using an interesting analogy here. Gird up the loins of your mind. This implies taking a long garment and tucking it in so that you and I are ready to move. When he says gird up the loins of your mind, he's saying be ready for action. You never know when you will be tried. You will never know when you have to draw on the knowledge, the truth that you've been given. And we all know trials come. Don't they?

And they're real. And they hurt. And we have to be ready. Our minds have to be girded and ready for action. So this is my call to action sermon.

So what is the one area when we really often don't have our minds girded? And it's the third aspect of spiritual growth that we have a choice to make, a part to play. What is the third part when our mind is not girded? When our skirt is just a bit too long? Our personal responses. Number three, the choices we make and the responses that we give both to God and to men. Nothing stops spiritual growth quicker than blaming God for all of your problems. When things go wrong, and we all do this, oh, we do. Why me? Why can't I just catch a break? And we look at other people and we see their blessings and we look at our trials and we stagnate. We just stop.

You know, we could go through Job, but this is a sermon, not a miniseries. And that's a really long book. So instead of going to Job, he's a great example of this. I mean, from beginning to end, we could watch the... look at the whole process of Job and see the solution to this problem. Because Job had this very same problem that you and I have. So nobody's throwing these stones at Job. Right? So let's look at Asaph instead. Asaph was a psalmist. He wrote some of the psalms. And we don't know much about him. We know he was a really wise guy and he wrote a psalm. Not like Mafia wise guy, but... He was a wise gentleman. And he wrote a psalm, Psalm 73, that makes the point very similar to the book of Job. A wise guy. You want to shoo-weck him?

No. Asaph was not a wise guy. Okay, Psalm 73.

We're going to read not the whole psalm, but the majority of it. And let's just go through and see Asaph's initial response to the fact that his life really stunk. Okay? When life stinks, what's human nature do to us? Ah, we blame God. But that's a choice. We have a choice to make. And Asaph, I love his honesty and his openness. He's not shy about really putting it out there. This is how I felt about God. And this is what happened. So, he starts in Psalm 73, verse 1. A Psalm of Asaph. Truly, God is good to Israel, to such who are pure in heart. Now, why does he make that initial statement? Because he is about to really badmouth God. And he's telling you up front, but I got over it. I fixed the problem, so read the whole psalm. Don't stop halfway through. So he starts with, Truly, God is good to Israel. And then verse 2. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, and my steps nearly slipped. Brethren, we have all been where Asaph has been. Or where he was. For I was envious of the boastful. Oh, I could make so many political jokes right now. When I saw the prosperity of the wicked, oh, the prosperity! Oh, they brag about it. Oh, they're so wealthy. Okay. For there are no pangs in their death. Oh, they have the best doctors. Everything, right? But their strength is firm. They're not in trouble as other men, nor they plague like other men. Their pride serves as their necklace, and violence covers them like a garment. Oh, they get away with everything. Right? They could send out a thousand emails they're not supposed to send out, and nobody's going to touch them. I said I wasn't going to make political jokes in my mouth. Their eyes bulge with abundance. They have more than a heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly. Oh, all the jokes about other people. They're just ripping them to shreds, and they get away with it. Concerning oppression, they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth. I mean, they even bad-mouthed God in religion. And they're filthy, stinky, rich. What? Oh, can you relate to Asaph? I can so relate to Asaph. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore, his people return here, and waters of a full cup are drained by them. In other words, they take from the righteous. Right? I've got to pay my taxes. Why don't they? And they say, how does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? I'm going to get away with this. God's not going to do a thing to me. There is no stink on me. Flies do not light upon me. Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease. And they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. What is it worth to come to church anyway? Fooey. For all the day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. And if I had said, I will speak thus, behold, I would have been untrue to the generations of your children. When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. I don't get it! Asaph said, his reaction to God, his choice that he made, and we make all the time, was to say, can I catch a break? Aren't I the righteous one? Aren't I the one who didn't get a promotion because I keep the Sabbath? Right? Aren't I the one who follows God? Have you seen my car?

What Asaph went through? I love the fact that Asaph wrote this down. So honestly, you know, he wasn't the perfect godly man. He didn't come to church and just say, oh, happy Sabbath to you. You know? He was real. He was down to earth. And he makes you feel kind of good because how did he solve this problem? How did Asaph get out of the funk that he was in? He went to church. He went to church. Let's read on. What's our response to God supposed to be in life? What is our choice supposed to be? Oh, this is an easy one. Let's drop out of Psalm 73 for just a second. Get some perspective. Matthew 22, verse 37. What is our response to God supposed to be when we go through trials? Jesus Christ said it as plain as the nose on my face. Psalm Matthew 22, verse 37. And Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. Our response to God is supposed to be, I love you. I get it. You're molding me. You're shaping me. You're not molding those guys. So they're taking advantage of other people, and they're cheating, and they're rich, but I have eternity. What's our response supposed to be? It's a choice. Nothing stops our spiritual growth like blaming God. Okay, let's jump back in. Find out how did Asaph respond to God after he realized his error and judgment. Let's skip down Psalm 73, down to verse 25.

Oh, Asaph! Got it! Therefore we can get it.

Yeah, you know, I go through all kinds of trials, he says. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever, for indeed, those who are far from you shall perish, and you have destroyed all of those who deserve you for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God. I trust him. No matter what happens to me, I trust him, that I may declare your works. Okay, so the first part of this number three is our response to God. The second part is our response to other people. Some of us have enough wit about us to not blame God in the middle of the trial. Alright? Okay, that's not your problem. So then what would your problem be as a result? Blaming other people. Do you blame others and never accept blame yourself? You can't grow. You just can't if you do that. Matthew 7. Now, this is the back end of the Sermon on the Mount. We were just in Matthew 5 earlier. Same sermon, same topic. Matthew 7, verses 3-5. Do we blame others?

And he said, Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own? That doesn't mean your brother doesn't have a plank in his eye. It means you can't see it. The only thing you can see is the speck in his eye. And oh, we will pick them apart. Did you see what she was wearing? Speck. When there's heart issues that you can see inside, plank.

He or she has plank issues also. Problem is, you can't see them. So he goes on, How can you say to your brother, Let me remove the speck from your eye?

And look, a plank is in your own. You hypocrite. First, remove the plank from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Yes, you know what? You can help people. You can tell people, You know, you probably shouldn't wear that.

But I still love you. Right? But you have to deal with your heart issues first. You know, Romans 2. Paul was the student of Jesus Christ. If anybody thinks that Paul changed what Jesus Christ said, they are out of their gourd. Because you can find something that Jesus Christ said and find something that Paul said to follow up on it almost every single time.

Romans 2, verse 1. Follows up on this part of the Sermon on the Mount. Romans 2, verse 1. Paul says, Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are, whoever you are who judge. For in whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge, practice the same thing. How do we respond to our fellow man?

So what is our response supposed to be? Okay, I already gave you the answer. Because it's the same one you do with God. It's love. Remember when we read the first part? Matthew 22, verse 37. He said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. What did he say right after that? This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

We just had a sermon on the law when they say law and the prophets. He means the entire Old Testament, what we would call the Old Testament. They called it the law and the prophets. Every single scripture in the Bible rests on those two commandments. Love God or love your fellow man. How are we doing in that area?

How is our response? Are you able, am I able, to admit fault? Don't ask my wife. But if we do, if we are able, we grow. We grow when we can see that we need change. You know, God does the heavy lifting, as I said at the beginning of the sermon. But we have a part to play. We have choices to make. The fourth part is our mixture of pride and humility. We've all got it. When I was in what's now called middle school, it was junior high back then, dating myself.

When I was in what we call middle school now, I noticed something amazing about people. Everybody had pride. I thought I was the only self-conscious kid around. All the popular kids, you know, I was real skinny, kind of hard to believe. I was really skinny, you know, and really self-conscious about it. And all the other kids were better than me, so I assumed. So when the wind blew my hair down, I was quick to fix it, you know.

And if I dropped my books, I was all embarrassed to look around to see who saw me do it. And then I noticed that the popular kids, the muscular guys, would drop their books. First thing they would do is not look around or not pick up their books, but they would look around to see who saw them, just like me. They're like, wow! You're just like me! I didn't know that. You know, the wind blows their hair, what do they do? Look in the window and try to fix their hair. Why? Because they care what other people think, because they have pride.

We all have it. Let me ask you a question. Can you admit when you're wrong? Do you learn from your mistakes? Do you learn anything new at all? How long has it been since you've actually learned something new? Do you know your spiritual growth depends on that? If you haven't learned anything new lately, you might want to do a pride check.

Wow! I hadn't thought of that. Proverbs 11, verse 2. Proverbs 11, verse 2. Pride will stunt our spiritual growth. Proverbs 11, verse 2. When pride comes, then comes shame. But with the humble is wisdom. You want to feel like you're ashamed? All you've got to do is stop learning.

Stop learning new things, and shame is right around the corner. Proverbs 29, verse 23. It's interesting, a proud man wants honor. A humble man, it's not as important. I forgot to silence my phone. That would have been embarrassing. Proverbs chapter 29 and 23.

A proud man cares about how other people think about it. To a humble man, it's not as important. This is ironic. This is an ironic proverb. Proverbs 29, 23. A man's pride will bring him low. The one thing he doesn't want to happen will happen because he's proud. But the humble in spirit will retain honor. Amazing. How ironic. The thing that matters less actually happens to the one man. The thing that matters more doesn't happen to the other.

Are you proud or are you humble? When was the last time you've learned something new? You know what pride does besides stop spiritual growth? It creates strife, arguments, division, violence. Humility brings peace, learning new things, and growing to become like God. Pride is like a terrible infection in the body. 1 Peter 5 We'll start in verse 5. Likewise, 1 Peter 5, verse 5. Likewise, you younger people submit... Ooh, that's a dirty word. Submit yourselves to your elders. That word submit, you know what that means? In layman's terms, cooperate.

Cooperate. Be cooperative. Don't make things difficult. Rather, be cooperative. Likewise, you younger people cooperate yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another. Cooperate with each other and be clothed with humility. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Absolute unmerited pardon. God is so forgiving and so gentle and so ready to give you another chance time and time again. You remember Peter asked Jesus Christ, how many times do I forgive? And his response was 77 times. Or some people say 70 times 7. Either way, it means an unlimited number of times. Where'd he get that from? God! That's the way he is! How many times will God forgive you?

70 times 7. Over and over and over again. But not if you're proud. Not if you think you deserve it. Not if you think life's not fair. I should have that, not him. Proud. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. I love that passage. So, the fourth thing that can help or impede our spiritual growth is our mixture of pride and humility. Do a check sometime this week. Do an inventory and ask yourself, when's the last time I learned something new? If you haven't learned something new lately, ask God for humility. Now, not humiliation.

Humility. God's merciful. You know, when you ask God, a lot of people say that jokingly, but then we take it seriously because that's said so often. God is not up there. Alright, Austin. You asked me the wrong way. I'm going to give you some humiliation. That's not the way he is. That's not the way he does things.

The fifth point, or the fifth part, of our spiritual growth, the choices that we make that affect our spiritual growth, is how much effort do we put into it? Our personal investment in growth. Point number five, our investment in growth. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Some would say that requiring effort on our part takes away from the grace of God. We are spitting on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to say, you've got to put your back into it. As though we're saying effort earns us salvation. And we're not. We're saying after you've received salvation, don't cheapen it. Do not spit on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ by sitting on your rear end. You are a Christian. Your job is to walk towards the Kingdom of God, and it takes effort. Do not cheapen, and we'll read that in a minute, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Effort doesn't earn anything. Grace was given to us, but it's not cheap. It came at a price, a high price. And if you have something super valuable, do you just leave it lying around? Do you forget leaving it in the car and leave the car unlocked and the windows rolled down? Anybody can come take that, because it's super valuable. No! You protect it with all your might. And that's the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It's grace. It was given to us freely. We didn't earn it, but it was given to you. It's the most valuable thing you could possibly have. Protect it! Okay. Our response to that act of grace directly affects how much we grow spiritually. Remember, Jesus Christ Himself told us, this is where we started, become perfect, which means become mature. Grow up, in other words. How much effort do we put into our growth? It will determine whether or not we actually accept the grace of God that was given to us. Or if we're just paying lip service to Him. That's why we don't do altar calls in the church. That's why we don't do it. It's because it's an outward show. That's not what God's looking for. If I called everybody up here, just come accept Jesus, and that's all we needed to do. We literally just spit on every blow that His body took, and every nail that was pierced, you know, His hands and His ankles, and the spear that went through His side. And all the humiliation that He went through, and the spitting that they did, and the slapping, the accusations. Not to mention the years that He had to put up with the Pharisees accusing Him day after day after day. We can't cheapen it. How much effort do we put into our spiritual growth? Well, we would be remiss without going to Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10.

Ecclesiastes 9 and verse 10. King Solomon says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. And you know what? If it's worth doing, put your back into it. It's worth doing right. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4.

I'm really making you turn today, I know.

But, Mr. Petty told me, don't use so many scriptures. It makes people turn too quickly. But, I was trained by my dad.

He threw them. I grew up this way. Just throwing them at you. 1, 2, 3, 4. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 4.

I won't do this all the time. Throw scriptures at you this fast. Once in a while I will, though. I mean, this is the Word of God. The truth is based on the Word of God. How do a bunch of people, who have very little in common, come together and love each other like we do? Because we have the truth of God. That's what binds us together. That's why we're one family. So, you know what? Every once in a while, we're going to have a ton of scriptures. 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1. Okay. That's our goal. And I read that because I want to read the next following verses. Verse 5. But also, for this very reason, giving all diligence. How much effort do we put into this? Our own spiritual growth? Everything you've got. And you know we fall down. I fall down on this. We need these kind of reminders every once in a while. You know, hey troops, stand up. You got to march. I don't want to march. I'm tired. I'm hungry. I want to sleep. It's not time to sleep. It's time to march.

But also, for this very reason, giving all diligence. Add to your faith virtue. And virtue knowledge. And knowledge... Listen to the growth. This is the growth process. Peter's going through. Knowledge, self-control. To self-control, perseverance. To perseverance, godliness. And to godliness, brotherly kindness. And why do we add to brotherly kindness? Where do we end up? And to brotherly kindness, love. Agape, eragape, godly love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, you will grow. How did Peter start that off? How do we get the divine nature? All diligence. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, lacks what things? Well, the list we just went through, which starts with all diligence. If we lack effort, what happens? Short-sighted, even to blindness, and have forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. You just spat on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You left it on the front seat of the car with the doors unlocked and the windows rolled down. Why? Why did you cheapen the fact that you had been cleansed, which is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? Because you didn't put any effort into it. That's what Peter's saying. Verse 10. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call an election sure. How people can say, once saved, always saved, boggles my mind. Because if he says that you are to be diligent to make your call an election sure, it means your call is not an election sure. Unless you are diligent. Wow!

Now, God is faithful to do his part. Don't worry that you're not going to make it into the kingdom. All I'm saying today is, march! For if you do these things, Peter ends with great encouragement. You will never stumble. You won't be like Asaph. And you won't look at the rich and envy them. Because you have something so much more valuable. God does his part. God's good at his job. Really good at it. He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins. He sends his Holy Spirit to give us the power to overcome. Philippians 2, 13 I just want to remind us of the very first point I made in this sermon before I conclude. God does the heavy lifting for us. And that ought to be very encouraging to us. We have a part to play, but he's going to get us to where we need to be. He's going to do it. Philippians 2, 13 We're going to make it. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do his good and pleasure. But you know what? God's inspiration that he gives us is not possession. He doesn't possess us like a demon would come in and possess somebody and throw them into the fire. It wasn't their will to go into the fire. The demon just threw them into the fire. God does not do that to us. What he does is he comes in and he inspires us. And that word means to elevate. Possession actually subjugates us or puts us down. That's what happens when somebody is demon-possessed. They are actually moved out of the way and their will is no longer engaged. Inspiration actually elevates us. It gives us the strength we need, but it's still us marching, doing the effort, putting the effort into it. We still have a part to play in our own personal spiritual growth. So let's make sure that we worship God and the truth is in our heart. We worship Him with all of our heart.

I encourage us this coming year to deepen your knowledge of God. Part of the instruction that we are given to have spiritual growth is to learn, test all things, hold fast to what is true, and be ready for action. And you know what? We're going to hit bumps in the road. We're going to have trials, and they're going to hurt. And when we do, our response to God is important in our spiritual growth. Don't blame God and don't blame other people. Just love God and love other people. And march. Ask yourself if you've learned anything new lately. And if not, ask God for more humility. And He'll give you more humility. Not just humiliation. That's not how God operates. But don't let pride creep in.

And you know what? Being a Christian, having spiritual growth, it requires effort on our part. So put your back into it. And seek spiritual growth with all of your might. With all diligence, as He said. And if we do those things, God will give us the growth. He will get us to where we need to be. We have a part to play.