Grow | Never THERE Yet

Sunday Morning | July 21, 2024 | Colby Flowers | Louisville, KY

Student Pastor Colby Flowers continues with the third sermon of the Grow series. He encourages us to never feel that we have arrived to full maturity in our spiritual growth. Instead we should never stop striving to be more like Jesus.

You can join us on Sunday mornings at 11 AM for worship. We are located at 8911 3rd Street Road, Louisville KY 40272.

Transcript

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Good morning, Church. How are we doing? It's great to be with you this morning. We're continuing our series in Grow. And we're going to be in First Thessalonians chapter four this morning. So if you have your scriptures before you as a physical copy, first Thessalonians chapter four, it's near the end of the Bible. It's a letter written by the Apostle Paul to a church in a city called Thessalonica. We'll also have the words on the screen for you to see, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to walk with you through this important idea of grow. And we've already had two weeks where we've walked through this series, and we're continuing this theme about this idea of growth. And to this morning we're going to look at this idea of growth in the sense of spiritual growth in Christ. And specifically, we're going to talk about a word that might be ambiguous to some of us. We may have heard it before, but it's this idea of sanctification, long word, but important word in the biblical theology and understanding of the Christian faith. And so we're going to be in First Thessalonians chapter four this morning. And I'm excited about what God is going to do. And while my family and I just got back from vacation, it was a good time away. You probably can't tell, but I did go to the beach. I'm already pale, so I had to lather myself up with as much sunscreen as humanly possible to avoid the slightest of burns. In fact, funny enough, I got sunburn on the drive down there from the sun, through the window on my thighs. I don't understand, but that's just the... that's just the world that I live in. And so I made sure not to get sunburned. So I'm thankful that God blessed me in that way on the trip. But we drove to Florida, and for any of you all, that have taken a long distance trip. You know that there is a tension on that long of a drive, but on top of that, my three year old who's in the back of the car, she is a wild child. If she was in here right now, if you haven't seen her before, she would be running up and down the aisle. She is hard to maintain and she is full of energy. And so you can imagine us driving this long distance. And she just learned, she's just potty trained. So she's fresh off of that. So praise God we've gotten through that stage. But occasionally she has accidents. So you can imagine the words that are coming out from the backseat of the vehicle right? I need to stop. I need to go potty. I need to play with this. Come hold me. And we even got a little bit of are we there yet? Well, just by looking around at our surroundings, we weren't there yet, so it's a pretty, pretty easy answer. But then we also have my wife, who is sitting next to me, who graciously was awesome on the trip, but understandably being almost six months pregnant at this point, she, has to go to the bathroom as well. I mean, when you have a baby that's kicking on your bladder, you know you have to go more often. As some of you all know. I don't know that feeling, but some of you all do. And so despite the fact that she did incredibly well, she also had to make stops. And this tension of we need to get there, right. But I think if we pause and consider this whole idea, are we there yet? I think there's something here for for us as Christians, us as believers to learn. So I have this quote that I wanted to throw up here for you. It's a writer named Dallas Willard. He wrote a book called renovation of the heart. I'd recommend it to anybody who's interested about the idea of growing as a Christian. And he writes this. He says, in the spiritual life, one never rests on one's laurels. It is a sure recipe for falling. He explains, We deserve nothing before God, no matter how far we have advanced, and we are never out of danger as long as we are at home in the body. That's a quote from from Scripture from Paul that is, in this life we are still just recovering sinners. And in these respects, though only in these respects do we remain as a wicked, as wicked as anyone else, mother Teresa as Hitler. His quote is making a point that we can't become complacent or content with where we are. So I want to get out of this morning, and we're going to see in our passage that you will grow in your relationship with Christ. If you keep the attitude that you are never there yet. Meaning we have an attitude, a posture in our heart that we are never there yet in perfection, we have never attained or reached a particular level of our growth that we can stop. Because complacency or contentment in this sense can be dangerous for a believer. Because once you stop growing, you don't just stay, you tend to go backwards. And so my concern for all of us and for me this morning, I'm up here speaking not as someone has who has arrived, but I am in process, just like everyone else here, because there is no one who should not, or there is no one in here that should be complacent and content with where they are in their faith. So when we talk about this idea of growth, it's crucial that we have an attitude that we are never there yet. And what I mean by that is when Jesus returns or God calls us home, we will be practically made perfect in the image of God again. Amen. But until that day, what Paul is saying to these Christians in the first century is that you can't stop. So look here with me in first Thessalonians chapter four, verse one. We're going to look at one through 12. And this is what the apostle Paul and his getting towards the the end of his letter is going to say to these believers. He says, Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you were doing, that you do so more and more. Do you see that? Paul is saying, I am asking and urging you in the Lord Jesus, that as we have taught you before, all these instructions, all of these ways in which God has called you and I to live, we are asking and urging you not to stop, but to do so more and more as we walk and please God. So Paul says this phrase twice in this passage alone, this idea of urging them to do so more and more. He says it here in verse one, but also we'll see it in verse ten. And you can imagine why Paul would want to do this, why he would need to urge people on in their faith. You all, you and I both know that the tendency for all of us to drift, we all have a tendency to say, I'm following Jesus, but then we tend to drift off into other things and we stop growing. So Paul is concerned about these believers who he couldn't call on the cell phone or Skype or video call with his phone. Instead, he had to write a letter sending it to them, only hearing reports. And he's telling them, listen, don't stop. Keep going. And I want to share another quote with you this morning. This is Benjamin E Hayes. He was a Baptist pastor and a civil rights activist around in the time of Martin Luther King Junior. He says this, The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency, not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little, not in our living, above our ability, but rather in live and are living below our capacities. See, when we get to a point where we are content or complacent in our growth in Christ this week I want to call that spiritual complacency. And there's a number of reasons why that might happen. But listen, spiritual complacency exists when we believe that we have already arrived there with enough growth and holiness. Meaning I've arrived, I've got to my plateau and I'm done. I'm I it doesn't matter. My age doesn't matter my maturity. I'm here. I'm good. God, I'm ready. But that's a dangerous place to be. And that could be in anything in life, right? Our job, our careers, our parenting. Imagine if we just thought, you know what? I'm good enough for my career. I don't I don't need to learn anything else or I'm a good enough parent. I don't need to learn anything else. That type of attitude gets us in trouble, doesn't it? But imagine applying that to your spiritual life, your growth in Christ. Like it's all right. It's all right. God, I've got enough. I'm good. That's a dangerous place to be. And complacency really can happen because of maybe there's an idol in our heart. Something's leading us away to worship other things than than to worship God. We become complacent. Maybe there's a roadblock in our spiritual life that's keeping us from going further on in our journey towards Christ, in holiness. But for us this morning, my concern for you and for me is that we can't rest on our laurels and become complacent in our faith. Look what Paul says in verse two. He says, for you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus? See this entire letter? Paul's been writing with a positive tone, because the people, the believers in Thessalonica were doing great, as it were, to see here towards into the passage. They were loving their brothers, they were following Jesus. They had good theology, they kept good doctrine. But Paul's concern was, is that they would stop. So they have the instruction. They knew what to do. But sometimes it's not necessarily knowing, but it's about the doing, because plenty of us know the instructions that God has given us. Amen? We know God's word. We've been in the church life. We know the expectations. But sometimes the problem is not just about knowing, but we drift. So Paul's recalling to them, listen, you all know the instructions, but listen, keep going. Do so more and more and more. So here's my first point for us this morning that you will grow when you keep the mindset that you are never there yet. When you have an attitude of, there is always an area or a level in which I could be growing in my faith, in my time in God's Word, in my sanctification, in my how I deal with sin, and how I do In relationships, there is always areas in which we could be growing and having the mindset of I'm never there yet will keep you from being stagnant. Will keep you from being complacent. Will keep you in a posture of humility and growth. And so I would encourage you all to have this attitude, a mindset of yourself in your mind, so that when you are pursuing Christ, you don't become complacent or content. So Paul goes on here in verse three, he says pretty blatantly, this is the will of God for your life. So if anybody here this morning is asking what God's will for my life, I'll tell you right here. Paul says it, for this is the will of God. Here it is your sanctification. Can we be any more simple? Who who are like simple? I like it when it is straightforward and I don't have to guess. Paul says, here's my here is God's will for your life, your sanctification, not just the Thessalonian believers in the first century, but everyone in this room and anyone who would ever choose to believe and follow Jesus. This is God's will, your sanctification. Now, this word is is pretty unique in that this is a Greek word, and this may be too much or, you know, you know, too nerdy for you all, but it's hagiasmos. It's basically a word that is used in the Bible, but it's really not found elsewhere outside of the Bible. It's kind of a unique word to to Scripture. In fact, early Christians use this word to describe their growth and their walk with Jesus. And what it really means is, is, is sanctification, is this gradual process of being made holy. And it begins internally with your heart, in your mind, but then it externally comes out with your actions and your words. So notice it's a process. I'm growing. I'm developing to be more like Jesus. Begins internally and it comes out into your life externally. Now the Bible also says this is pretty, pretty interesting. The Bible also says that you have been sanctified. So how can we be in the process of sanctification, but also past tense, I have already been sanctified. Two things are true at once here. Do you see that? It's because Jesus died on the cross and shed his blood, so that all of your sins are forgiven, so that when God Almighty looks at you, he no longer sees you as you were. He sees you as he sees Christ. So that means you have been sanctified in one sense. But catch this. Now Paul is saying, you now are starting the process of becoming more like Jesus practically. Yes, positionally, you look like Jesus. You have all of your sins forgiven and you are seen as holy by God. But now the test is to live it out. It's one thing to be holy in God's eyes. It's one thing to now live it out practically in your life. So when I mean sanctification here, what I mean is it's the process part. You and I are on a process, on a journey of growing in holiness and growing to be like Jesus. Our sins are forgiven. We have been saved by grace through faith. But listen to me. You have a responsibility now. You're no longer a bench player. You play a key role in the team. You have a responsibility now to grow in your faith. So listen, we cannot expect to grow closer to God by following our own will. This is why Paul says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. Notice he doesn't say, for this is the will of man, because frankly, if it was up to me what I would prefer God, I want the blessings of salvation, but I still want to live the same way. Thank you God for saving me from my sin. Thank you for for for saving me for eternity. But now I still want to live the same way that I used to live. It sounds like a pretty good plan, doesn't it? But that's why it is the will of God for your life, for your sanctification, God's will for your life isn't to come to Jesus and keep living the same way. God's will for your life is to come to Jesus and transform into being more like him. And I think it's really important to see this played out in the book of Romans here. These first two verses of chapter six, look at this in Romans six. This helps us understand it. Paul's addressing Christians who who he's just said are been saved by grace through faith, by God's love. And it says, what shall we say then are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? He answers it for him by no means how can he? We who died to sin, still live in it. So the proof is in the pudding. If you're alive in Christ, you're no longer going to live in sin anymore. I'm not talking about perfection, because all of us are going to continue to fight in the struggle and our and fight against sin. Yes, but we should see an upward trajectory in our life and upward growth, that we're becoming more like Jesus and less and less like the old self. Amen. We should be saying goodbye to the old self and hello to the new. So I want you to hear this. The process of sanctification is not optional for believers, but it is the inescapable response to knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. Meaning, once you come to know Jesus, you can't escape the desire to become more like him. I remember the first time that I held my daughter the day she was born. I was filled with all kinds of emotions. But I remember also feeling a strong sense of responsibility in that moment as well. That once I saw my daughter born, I only had one response to it. That was that I was going to do all that I could to love her, protect her, and provide for her for the rest of her life. I had no other response to that situation but to do all that I could for her. And it's similar of how when we come to know Jesus, we only have one response. I want to be like him. I want to be more like Jesus, more like God, because of how beautiful, how wonderful, how holy, how awesome, how magnificent, how graceful God is. I want to be like that. So a test for us, if we truly know Jesus, is that we are taking steps to being like Jesus. So this is why Paul is considering this to be so important for these believers who had it right. But they should continue going. Look at this. I'm going to come back here to verse three. It says, for this is the will of God, your sanctification. And Paul gives a specific sin here. Notice what he says. The specific sin that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor. Now notice he uses a specific instance of sin right here. This word, porneia, it can be many different kinds of sexual sin. In fact, it's like an umbrella kind of term. It can be adultery. It can be lust of the heart. It can be homosexuality, like it is an umbrella of many sins. But I was thinking, why would Paul specifically use this sin in this instance? And no other ones? It's interesting because he could say abstain from anger, right? Abstain from lust. That's part of anyway. Abstain from envy. Abstain from greed. He could put any sin here, right? Because we're called as Christians to fight against sin. All sin. But why this one? See, I think there's a particular reason. Now, this is me coming out on a little bit of a limb here, but what I think Paul's doing here is he's pointing to the most obvious example of going against God's word, a sin that is so far reaching and effective to not just the people involved directly, but indirectly involved. A sin that can be hidden behind a computer and behind stored files. A sin that can be hidden behind a closed door, a sin that can creep quietly and then explode and change the trajectory of a church, of a community, of a family. I think the reality of this sin is so pervasive and so horrible that Paul puts it here as the clearest example he could probably think of. This is not elevated above all other sin, because all sin condemns us before God, but this sin has a little bite to it. So I would believe I want to say this here, that the greatest hindrance to your spiritual growth is sin. Do you hear me? The greatest hindrance to your spiritual growth is sin, generally speaking. But I will say this sexual sin is of the foremost. Sexual sin has a way of hindering our spiritual growth in a way that others don't. It's far reaching. It affects more people than most other sins. But I want to say this that we need to be careful about what's going on in our heart, because it can hinder you from following Jesus and being holy and sanctified. But generally speaking, look here at Hebrews chapter 12. It says, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. You and I are on a race towards godliness, towards holiness, towards sanctification, and there are sins that want to trip you up and form roadblocks in your life. And I don't know what that is for you this morning. I don't know if there's a particular sin that is a roadblock in your sanctification and your growth in holiness right now. And the reality is, if we're all honest with ourselves, some of us probably know what that sin is, but we're unwilling to admit it or talk about it. Which is why it's crucial that we have life groups, we have accountability. We have people that can pour into our lives that we can walk with to deal with sin. So in Christ, sinful passions, the beautiful part about this, that sinful passions and desires that once ruled your life, listen, they are crucified. In Jesus, a relationship with Christ, all of those sins that once had control in your life. Guess what? They no longer have power over you, in Jesus. The only response that we can actually give sin is we give into it. We give sin power. But now in Christ we have crucified the flesh. Look at this in Galatians five, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its own passions and desires. That's a beautiful thought this morning. You have power over sin in Jesus and you can say no to it. But it's also true that believers have the personal responsibility to one, abstain from sin, and control their own bodies. Jesus has given you the victory over it, but now you and I are in charge of of saying no to it and controlling our bodies. It's not just, Jesus, you do all the work and I'm gonna sit over here. It's Jesus gave us the victory. Now we're going to walk in it. So for us talking about growth in Christ and spiritual growth, we need to fight sin. Here in verse five, Paul goes on-- not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God, that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all of these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you, Paul, saying here, just like the Gentiles, the worldly unbelievers, just like they live in the flesh, live out their lust, do whatever sin tells them to do. Believers are called to the opposite-- to walk in self-control, to walk in abstaining against the flesh. And he goes on here in verse seven, For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. God's call for your life is different than the world's calling on your life. The world is calling you to sin and rebellion. God's calling you to holiness and sanctification. He says, therefore, whoever disregards this disregards not man, but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. And we need to be humbled by this reality. You see, sin is not disregarding man's advice, but God's Word. When we sin, it's not just we didn't take the advice of a friend, it's that we didn't listen to God's calling on our life. And the beautiful part is that God has given us His Holy Spirit. God desires to put His Holy Spirit in us, to dwell in us, to correct us, to change us. And how dare we ever step away and say, God, I don't want Your Holy Spirit. I don't want your guidance. I'm going to do it my way. There's a famous song I'm sure we're all familiar with it by, Frank Sinatra. And he said two words that I think will, will stand the test of time in America. And those words are My Way. It reflects really, this American mindset that no matter the outcome of life, at least this. I did it my way. But often we don't think that sometimes our way isn’t God's way. In fact, they tend to be the opposite. But is that true of you today? Are you following God's will for your life? Are you following your own will for your life? So my second point for you this morning is that you will grow when you pursue holiness through killing sin and feasting on God's Word. Pursue holiness through killing sin and feasting on God's Word. Two very important things practically, as Christians, we should be doing. Killing sin and feasting on God's Word. And here's why.

Colossians 3: 27:19

5, put to death therefore what is earthly in you. It doesn't mean put it to the side. It doesn't mean cover it up. It means kill the sin or else it's going to kill you. Kill sin in your life. Don't give it breath. Don't give it time. Don't give it energy. Don't give it your eyes on your phone. Kill it dead. And notice the first thing that Paul says in the book of Colossians sexual immorality. It is such a pervasive sin that Paul had to deal with it in bunches because of the Greek culture that he lived in. And we live in a similar culture today than we than they did in the first century. Puts into death. Second thing, we need a feast on God's Word.

Look at this, John 17: 28:08

7, Sanctify. There's that word sanctification. Sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. You want to be sanctified? Get in the Word of God. You want to pursue holiness and obey the will of God. You have to get in his word. Let's get back here to the verse. Actually, I’ve got another point for us, actually. Jump to the next point before we get back into the verse. Your sanctification, and this is crucial, your sanctification is not a waiting game, but an active struggle to grow in holiness. You and I are a part of this now. When you accept Christ, you and I are now pushing to become more like Jesus. So I'll give you this third point here this morning. You will grow when you remember you are never on your own. I think this is a reality you all need to remember, because sometimes we think I've got to do it all myself. The Bible is not a do it yourself help book. It is, in fact, God will empower you to do the work.

Look at this in 2 Corinthians 3: 29:20

18, And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. And notice for this comes from the Lord, who is the spirit. The Holy Spirit will empower you to grow, to be sanctified in your faith. And here's a verse that I hope would encourage you

this morning, Philippians 1: 29:44

6, And I'm sure that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. If Jesus started it, he's going to finish it. If he started the work of sanctification in your life, you can bet he's going to finish it. So trust him in the process. You are not on your own this morning or ever. Let's wrap up these final verses here in this passage for us. First Thessalonians four verse nine, it says, now concerning brotherly love, you have no need for anyone to write to you. For you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another. For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more. So Paul gets to a practical thing here. He says, you were already loving your brothers in Christ. Keep going. And honestly, for us, sanctification. This process can be seen and how we love one another in the church. And I'm so thankful for this at Valley View. I'm so thankful for how we love one another at Valley View, and this is a a proof that we're being sanctified is that we love people. But it's also true here in verse 11. Look what he says here, he says, and to aspire to live quietly and to mind your own affairs and to work with your hands as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. So not only should we be loving our brothers in Christ in the church, but sanctification can also be seen in how we love and work among those outside the church. That your place of work, the grocery store, your families, those people who exist outside the church, but how you work, but how you love them, that's a proof of that you're sanctified. So consider are you growing in this way that you're loving those inside the church and loving those outside the church? And here's my final point for this this morning. You will grow when you remain active in love and work, you will grow and remain. When you remain active in love and work. I believe it keeps us from being complacent when we are active in loving people. It keeps us from being complacent when we are active and working alongside of others. Look at this

in 1 Thessalonians 2: 32:28

9, for you remember, brothers, our labor and toil, we worked night and day that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaim to you the gospel of God. See for you and I we are called to live out our faith wherever we go and whether we are at work or at home, in the church, outside the church, that we love people and we carry ourselves so that we're not a burden to anybody. So here's your challenge for this morning. Do you have the attitude that you are never there yet in your spiritual growth? Would you say that's your attitude in your posture towards God? Would you say that you have this, this pursuit of God that's unending in this life? Or is it that you feel like you've kind of drifted, you've become complacent, and I'm here to tell you that I've been there. I'm not speaking as someone who's arrived there yet. I'm speaking as someone who's on the journey with you. And it is often that I sometimes get complacent in my faith. But hear me out. You're not alone. You're not alone because God is with you. Your church is with you. There is no sin that can hinder you so far to keep you from God, and you have every ability and opportunity to grow closer to Christ. If we keep this mindset that we are never there yet. And I want to encourage you with this, with this final verse here. I know I've given you a lot of Scripture, but if you know me, I am more. I'm more concerned about you hearing from God's Word than my word. Right? That's why I throw up so much scripture. I had some of my students say, why do you use so much scripture? Because I'd rather you hear from God instead of me. But I want to encourage you with this last bit of scripture, okay? And I'm just going to read this for you. I'm not going to explain it because it's I think it's pretty self explanatory, but I want to read this for you this morning, and I hope this would encourage you for this reason. Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self-control and self-control, with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing --they're growing-- they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. I urge you, brothers and sisters, this morning, don't stop. Keep going. Do so more and more till the Lord Jesus returns or you go back to be home with the Lord because it is a journey to be more like Jesus in this life. Let's pray.