GROWTH TALK | THE GLORY OF GROWTH II

[00:00:01] Hello world of podcast listeners and Mark8.27 listening audience. Thank you so much for returning for this Part two of the Growth Talk episode that we started this morning. This morning we had, I think, a great conversation regarding the glory of growth, but the recording lasted for a little over 30 minutes and typically I try to keep the recordings restricted to about 15 minutes, but sometimes the Spirit of God will take you longer than that. However, I was allowed to go on and end that portion of the episode and we're going to pick up with part two now of the Mark8.27 podcast, the growth Talk episode, and we are specifically speaking about the glory of growth. [00:00:51] We went into quite a bit of detail this morning regarding glory. The glory of God, the glory of man, the glory of Christ, the glory of the Church. Now we're going to launch into a better understanding of what God's Word says about growth, and then we will link them up for a complete understanding, prayerfully of the glory of growth. [00:01:20] So if you don't already have your Bible, please grab your Bible so that you can flip pages with us and dive into this topic right along with us. [00:01:29] Launching Pad I'd like to a scripture that is in First Corinthians chapter 15, beginning with verse 33, and it's kind of a lengthy read. We're going to read all the way through the 44th verse. [00:01:47] Since this this is a continuation, we will simply use this as a launching pad and then we will move into what the Word says about growth. Corinthians 15 and verse 33 says, Be not deceived. Evil communications corrupt good manners awake to righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. But some man will say, how are the dead raised, and with what body do they come? [00:02:35] Thou fool. [00:02:36] That which thou soest is not quickened, except it die and that which thou sowest thou soweth not that body that shall be but bear grain. [00:02:52] It may chance of wheat, or of some other grain but God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased him and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. [00:03:19] There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. [00:03:34] There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one star differeth from another star in glory. [00:03:48] So also is the resurrection of the dead. [00:03:52] It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory, it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. [00:04:09] It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. [00:04:16] There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. [00:04:23] So you see here that the apostle Paul goes through quite a litany of illustrations that show us that different items have a different and their own particular glory. [00:04:41] The moon has its own glory, the sun has its own glory. The stars have their own glory. He talks about how the celestial have their own glory, and the terrestrial have their own glory. Glory. [00:04:59] So he mentions also that there is a glory of man as compared to the other glories that he has talked about. [00:05:13] We are the likeness of God. [00:05:16] That's our glory. [00:05:18] Our glory gives us dominion in this creation. We are in the likeness of God. Part of our glory is our creativity. [00:05:28] Part of our glory is our intelligence. [00:05:32] We have our own glory in that we are created in the likeness of God. But let's look at growth here. What does God say about growth? Turn to Philippians, chapter three, and we're going to start looking at verse seven. [00:05:51] It says, but what things were gained to me those I counted lost for Christ yet doubtless and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. [00:06:41] If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already attained, neither were already perfect. But I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. [00:07:00] Brethren, I count not myself. Paul says to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto the things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And so you hear the apostle Paul talking about how he in and of himself is not righteous. [00:07:33] The only righteousness that he has is the righteousness that comes through the faith of Christ. [00:07:42] And so his only righteousness is the righteousness that is imputed upon us, which is Christ's righteousness, you cannot get any more righteous than Christ. [00:07:52] The righteousness that is imputed upon us, upon our believing in Christ Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of our souls. [00:08:06] And so he says, I have no righteousness except for the righteousness that was imputed unto me. And I have not attained that for which Christ acquired me. He says, God arrested me. He accosted me for a purpose, and I have not attain that. I am not perfect, he says, but the one thing that I do is I put those things behind me that are behind me. And listen, we have a lot that I'm sure we want to put behind us. And the Apostle Paul is telling us here that we need to put it behind us. And I don't know about you for certain, but I'm sure you have some failures in your past. [00:08:55] For me, I have more than I care to count and definitely more than I care to make you aware of in this episode. [00:09:04] But the Apostle Paul encourages us to let us know that he wasn't righteous in and of himself either. The only righteousness that he had was that that was given to him. [00:09:17] Remember, before Christ arrested him for the service of God, the Apostle Paul was actually abusing. [00:09:30] He was jailing the church simply for the fact that they believed in Jesus Christ. [00:09:38] The Apostle Paul was killing Christians because of the fact that they were Christians. Horrible individual. [00:09:48] Until God arrested him for his service. And so the Apostle Paul says, I put all of that mess, all of that ugliness, all of that sin and wickedness, I put all of that behind me. Now remember, we're talking about the glory of growth. I put all of that behind me, he says, and I am reaching forth unto those things which are before me. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. [00:10:27] So he says, listen, I forget those things that are behind me. I put those things behind me and I leave those things behind me. And I am pressing on towards what lies ahead of me. [00:10:46] Me being in the will of God, me doing things according to God's call upon my life. [00:10:56] He's growing. He's growing beyond who he was, into who he is and who he will be. [00:11:05] He's growing beyond his previous attitude into the attitude that God would have him to have. [00:11:14] He's. He's growing beyond his previous proclivities into the commitments that God has called him to for his future. [00:11:27] He's growing. [00:11:29] We all have an opportunity to grow. [00:11:33] And if you refuse to grow, you are refusing to do what God would have you to do. And I would suggest that you are most definitely falling below and beneath the glory of God. [00:11:54] That's less than the glory of God. Not to want to get better, not to want to improve, not to want to advance, not to want to grow. [00:12:08] That's falling beneath the glory of God. The glory of being in God's image, the glory of being in the likeness of God. For God would have us to grow, to advance. I have encountered some people in life. I'm surrounded right now in some instances by individuals who are committed to being the way that they've always been and they think that everybody else should be excited about accepting them as the person that they have always been and that they still are and that they are committed to always be that that's not growth, that's not advancement. That's a pitiful commitment and it's a pitiful expectation of other people that people ought to be excited about your raggedy ways that you just refuse to put behind you. [00:13:13] People don't have to be pleased with you being the way that you are. [00:13:19] People don't have to want to be around you. [00:13:23] People don't have to want to talk to you. If you are a person who is self centered and every time a person talks to you, all you know how to do is talk about yourself and your, your own ventures, your own activities, never giving any listening ear to the person that you're talking to and what they may be going through and what their experiences are. People don't have to want to talk to a stop sign like that. I don't, I don't want to talk to somebody that as soon as I say hey, how are you? Then you go right into what's going on with you. You never take the time to ask me how am I doing? And I have to sit there for 10, 15, 20 minutes or however long it is and listen to you talk about you. [00:14:17] I actually have people who after the introductory statements to a phone conversation with them, they are so consumed with themselves and talking about their stuff that I can actually go to the restroom, come back, they're still talking, I can go make a sandwich, come back, they're still talking. That's pitiful when a lot of people will say, well, I think it's pitiful that you get up and go make a sandwich or I think it's pitiful that you go to the restroom. Okay, I grant that to you. If I owe you an apology, I apologize for that. But the fact that you think that I should be excited to sit and listen to somebody who is not interacting with me. They're simply consuming my time to talk about their stuff, never considering that I might have something that I want to talk about, especially if I called them, if I called you. Obviously there was something on my heart, something on my mind that I may need to talk to you about. I got to get off of this topic because I can easily get stuck here because it is definitely a pet peeve of mine that so many people that you talk to in this world today, they are so consumed with themselves and they care zero about anything that might be a concern of yours. If you're one of those people, listen, as I said to you this morning, there is grace to meet you at that place. [00:15:51] But the the glory of growth is that you can do as the Apostle Paul and put that horrendous way of being behind you and to press toward being a better person with with a better way of being and a better way of of behaving. The glory of growth is what we're talking about here. Turn to the Book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, and verse 1. Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin with dust so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. [00:17:07] Least ye be wearied and faint in your minds. [00:17:11] Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin and you have not forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the beginning or the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. [00:17:37] For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. [00:17:53] For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement whereof are all partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. [00:18:07] Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we have and we gave them reverence. [00:18:17] Shall we not much rather shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live for they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. [00:18:41] Now, no chastening, for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. [00:19:00] So listen, as the writer of Hebrews, Paul, or whoever it was that wrote the book of Hebrews, as he tells us to grow, quite simply, that was 11 verses that we read. But in a nutshell, in summary, what those 11 verses say is growing. [00:19:21] And God is in favor of us growing. In fact, God is so much in favor of us growing that as a child of his, he chastens you whenever you need to be chastened. Whenever there's an area in your life that needs to experience growth, God is going to chasten you if you are his child. [00:19:47] Because God is in favor of growth. [00:19:51] God is in favor of advancement. [00:19:55] God is in favor of betterment. [00:19:59] Listen, the writer here says that we ought to lay aside every weight and sin which doth so easily be set us. Now, when it says easily, sin and weight easily beset us, laying it aside is not always as easy. [00:20:26] But if you don't start somewhere in some way, you're not going to make any progress. [00:20:34] So if there's any area that God has shown you, you need to become better, you need to advance, you need to grow. [00:20:46] I would admonish you to start today working on that a little bit at a time. God may take it away from you in an instant and make you better in that particular area in an instant, but many times he does not. [00:21:04] It takes a period of growth and advancement and becoming better. [00:21:12] So now let's look at Romans, chapter 12 and verse 2. There you'll find the apostle Paul saying to the Romans, and be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. [00:21:35] That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Get better, grow, advance. He's saying, don't be conformed to the world. Don't just be what you've been used to seeing what and what you've been used to being. [00:21:58] Don't be conformed to the world. That's how those people sound when they say, well, that's just the way that I am. And if anybody wants to be bothered with me, they just got to be willing to accept me the way that I am. That's absurd. That's ridiculous. It's absurd that you think that people have to tolerate that. And it's absurd that you will not embrace God's will for you to get better. [00:22:25] I'm wondering anybody who does not want to get better in advance, why you came to God in the first place. [00:22:33] Most of us come to God because we want to be different. [00:22:38] We want our lives to be better. We want our lives to be different. We don't want to continue in the sin that we've been living in. We want our lives to be better. [00:22:49] As the Apostle Paul said, I have not yet attained that for which I was acquired. Neither am I yet perfect. But I am striving. [00:23:01] I'm putting that behind me and I'm striving toward what is better. We should at least be on that path where we are putting some stuff behind us and striving for what is better. And how are you going to achieve what you are striving for? Well, Paul gives us some great information right here. He says it will be by renewing your mind. [00:23:29] Because what has us stuck at some places is our minds the way that we think. [00:23:38] Be willing to change your mind. I talked to some people who are 60, 70, 80 years old, and they just refuse to want to change their mind. [00:24:00] Perhaps God has left you here for as long as he's left you here to give you an opportunity to change your mind, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. [00:24:15] Read a book. Definitely read the Bible. [00:24:20] Learn something. [00:24:22] Sometimes listen to what other people already know and that they're teaching. Sometimes have a teachable spirit. [00:24:34] You don't want to be one of those people who just says, I can't or I don't know how to. [00:24:41] Do you know how that sounds when you say, I would do such and such, but I don't know how to and place a period there. [00:24:53] If you don't know how to learn how to. [00:24:57] If you don't know how to, then figure out how to. [00:25:01] If you don't know how to, ask somebody how to be willing to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be willing to have your mind advanced by doing a little bit of learning. [00:25:24] Get better. [00:25:27] The glory of growth is what we're talking about. So look at the book of the Gospel of John, chapter one. [00:25:35] It says there, but as many as received him to them gave he power to become. [00:25:42] Before we even finish reading the verse. To become. Not to remain the way that you are, not to stay stuck on, stupid. [00:25:52] Not to be insane. You know, insanity is defined as doing the same things the same way, expecting different results. [00:26:03] If you do the same things the same way, they're going to render the same results. If you want different results. [00:26:12] If you want greater results, if you want to grow your results, you have to do something different. [00:26:22] And the Bible tells us right here, looking at it spiritually, that we have the ability to become better, to grow, to advance when we are a believer, because he gave us the power to become, even to become, the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. [00:26:53] So if you are a believer, you ought to be, and I don't say ought to very often, but if you are a believer, you ought to be committed to growth. [00:27:08] You ought to be willing to grow. [00:27:12] You ought to be exploring ways that you can grow. [00:27:19] God admonishes you to grow. He admonishes you through the apostle Paul to put some things behind you and to press on towards greater things. [00:27:32] God admonishes you to lay aside weights and sins, things that are bogging you down, and to run the race that he has set before you. [00:27:48] God wants you to advance. He wants you to be transformed. Your life to be transformed your language to be transformed, your thinking to be transformed your commitment to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, by thinking differently. As a man thinketh, Jesus said, so is he. Let me say it again. As a man thinketh, so is he. Every action starts with a thought. [00:28:25] So if your thoughts are depraved, your behavior is going to be deplorable. [00:28:37] Your behaviors follow your thoughts. Think about it. If you want to go make a sandwich, the first thing you're going to think is, I want to go make a sandwich. And then your feet will follow. [00:28:50] If your mind says, I need to go to the restroom, then your feet will follow. You will get up and go to the restroom. If your mind says, I'm tired, it's time to go to bed, then your actions will follow and you'll get up, go to your bedroom, get undressed, get into bed and get some rest. [00:29:16] Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. So you all, I hope that you, along with me, are making what is sometimes a very challenging commitment to make to God and to ourselves and to the world around us, that we are going to grow, we're going to get better, so that hopefully we can get closer to our glory, to the glory that God created us with. [00:29:51] That is you all, the glory of growth. [00:29:56] I trust that you've been blessed by Episode one. [00:30:00] If you have not yet heard it, please take the time to go back in the library and listen to the glory of growth. [00:30:09] In the meantime, until we meet again, please be blessed and stand out because of your Excellence.