“Spiritual Growth, Part 9” by Romans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy21vd6jSps
We are continuing in our Series reviewing and examining what God says on the subject of Spiritual Growth, and what several very insightful Bible Commentaries have to say as well. We have also seen that Spiritual Growth is intertwined with Growing in Grace and Knowledge, and recognizing the Authority of God in the world and in our lives, boldness, learning to be content in all things and, as we saw last week, commitment.
Let's continue with where we left off last week reviewing and examining more of what Scripture teaches us about commitment as a necessary component of Spiritual Growth. Let's begin, first with Proverbs 16:3: "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."
The Life Application tells us, "There are different ways to fail to commit whatever we do to the Lord. Some people commit their work only superficially. They say the project is being done for the Lord, but in reality they are doing it for themselves. Others give God temporary control of their interests, only to take control back the moment things stop going the way they expect.
Still others commit a task fully to the Lord but put forth no effort themselves, and then they wonder why they do not succeed. We must maintain a delicate balance: trusting God as if everything depended on him, while working as if everything depended on us. Think of a specific effort in which you are involved right now. Have you committed it to the Lord?"
Matthew Henry adds, “Note, 1. It is a very desirable thing to have our thoughts established, and not tossed, and put into a hurry, by disquieting cares and fears, - to go on in an even steady course of honesty and piety, not disturbed, or put out of frame, by any event or change, - to be satisfied that all shall work for good and issue well at last, and therefore to be always easy and sedate.
2. The only way to have our thoughts established is to commit our works to the Lord. The great concerns of our souls must be committed to the grace of God, with a dependence upon and submission to the conduct of that grace (2 Timothy 1:12); all our outward concerns must be committed to the providence of God, and to the sovereign, wise, and gracious disposal of that providence. Roll thy works upon the Lord (so the word is); roll the burden of thy care from thyself upon God.
Lay the matter before him by prayer. Make known thy works unto the Lord (so some read it), not only the works of thy hand, but the workings of thy heart; and then leave it with him, by faith and dependence upon him, submission and resignation to him. The will of the Lord be done. We may then be easy when we resolve that whatever pleases God shall please us.”
Matthew Henry's comments included a cross-reference to 2 Timothy 1:12 that we would do well to examine. I will include verse 11 for context: “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
The Sermon Bible says of this, “Christian Certainty. It is refreshing in these days of hesitancy and doubt to hear such a note of certainty as rings in this avowal. It is a characteristic note of the New Testament writers. Their intellectual strength, their freedom from fanaticism cannot be questioned, and yet they are never doubtful about Christianity;
their conviction is always distinct, strong, and imperturbable. Can we, from this avowal of the Apostle, gather any indications of the true grounds of Christian confidence?
I. Paul was now an old man—Paul the aged, as he designates himself—although probably he was not more than sixty-three when he was put to death. Few men had tested Christianity as he had done. (1) First, by the repeated investigations of a peculiarly keen intellect—in Damascus, in Arabia, and in Athens, and through thirty years of profound exposition and keen controversy.
(2) Next by the sacrifice for it of possessions and prospects, the most attractive to an ardent, aspiring nature like his. (3) By endurances for it such as few undergo—stripes, imprisonment, deaths oft. And now he stands face to face with the last great test of fidelity to conviction; he is about to die for his beliefs.
And throughout his letter there is not one dubious estimate, one faltering avowal. Not only is his Christian assurance confident, it exults, it vaunts itself. There is no mistaking the tone of this his final verdict upon Christianity. The very phraseology indicates the strength and the enthusiasm of his faith.
II. The Apostle does not rest his certainty upon an ethical basis and feeling of personal goodness. In Paul’s theory of salvation by Christ, personal holiness never takes the place of a meritorious cause. It is simply the fruit and expression of Christ’s great gift of life.
Nor does Paul derive his certainty from any imaginative hopes of the eschatologist. Such confidence as he avows is clearly the product of intelligent testimony, of clear conviction, of long and diversified experience of Christian life. There can be no strong exulting certainty in mere peradventure. If immortal hope is to be assured to a man, his present life in Christ must be certain. "I know whom I have believed."
III. It comes then to this. The evidence upon which the Apostle relies is solely that of his personal experience of Christ. The certainty of an old saintly man like Paul—the certainty which is produced by a long Christian experience, that rests upon what Christ has been, in the manifold necessities of a strenuous life, in its arduous duties, fierce temptations, sore conflicts, depressions and sorrows,—becomes an absolute feeling as indubitable as life itself.
For the life in Christ day by day generates the measure of your dying confidence, the strength of your trust. If your realisation of Christ be meagre, your assurance will be of corresponding feebleness. But if your assurance of Christ be large and continued through long years of life, then your faith will grow exceedingly, your confidence will take large forms, your avowals will find large expressions.”
H. Allon, The Indwelling Christ, p. 143. References: 2Ti_1:12.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 271; vol. xvi., No. 908; J. M. Neale, Sermons in a Religious House, vol. i., p. 240; F. Greeves, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 129; J. Le Hurey, Ibid., vol. xxxiv., p. 51; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 113; vol. v., p. 28; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iv., p. 78. 2Ti_1:12-14.—Spurgeon, Sermons", vol. xxxii., No. 1913.”
Spiritual Growth is about commitment and overcoming, a term we don't hear enough about. We read in 1 John 5:3-5: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Albert Barnes writes of this: “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world - The world, in its maxims, and precepts, and customs, does not rule him, but he is a freeman. The idea is, that there is a conflict between religion and the world, and that in the heart of every true Christian religion secures the victory, or triumphs.
In John 16:33, the Saviour says, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” See the notes at that verse. He obtained a complete triumph over him “who rules the darkness of the world,” and laid the foundation for a victory by his people over all vice, error, and sin. John makes this affirmation of all who are born of God.
“Whatsoever,” or, as the Greek is, “Everything which is begotten of God,” meaning to affirm, undoubtedly, that “in every instance” where one is truly regenerated, there is this victory over the world. It is one of the settled maxims of religion, that every man who is a true Christian gains a victory over the world;
and consequently a maxim as settled, that where the spirit of the world reigns supremely in the heart, there is no true religion. But, if this be a true principle, how many professed Christians are there who are strangers to all claims of piety - for how many are there who are wholly governed by the spirit of this world!
And this is the victory - This is the source or means of the victory which is thus achieved. Even our faith - Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 1John 5:5. He overcame the world, John 16:33, and it is by that faith which makes us one with him, and that imbues us with his Spirit, that we are able to do it also.
Who is he ... - Where is there one who can pretend to have obtained a victory over the world, except he who believes in the Saviour? All else are worldly, and are governed by worldly aims and principles. It is true that a man may gain a victory over one worldly passion; he may subdue some one evil propensity;
he may abandon the “happy” circle, may break away from habits of profaneness, may leave the company of the unprincipled and polluted; but still, unless he has faith in the Son of God, the spirit of the world will reign supreme in his soul in some form.
The appeal which John so confidently made in his time may be as confidently made now. we may ask, as he did, where is there one who shows that he has obtained a complete victory over the world, except the true Christian? Where is there one whose end and aim is not the present life? Where is there one who shows that all his purposes in regard to this world are made subordinate to the world to come?
There are those now, as there were then, who break away from one form of sin, and from one circle of sinful companions; there are those who change the ardent passions of youth for the soberness of middle or advanced life there are those who see the folly of profaneness, and of gaiety, and intemperance; there are those who are disappointed in some scheme of ambition, and who withdraw from political conflicts;
there are those who are satiated with pageantry, and who, oppressed with the cares of state, as Diocletian and Charles V were, retire from public life; and there are those whose hearts are crushed and broken by losses, and by the death, or what is worse than death, by the ingratitude of their children, and who cease to cherish the fond hope that their family will be honored, and their name perpetuated in those whom they tenderly loved - but still there is no victory over the world.
Their deep dejection, their sadness, their brokenness of spirit, their lamentations, and their want of cheerfulness, all show that the spirit of the world still reigns in their hearts. If the calamities which have come upon them could be withdrawn; if the days of prosperity could be restored, they would show as much of the spirit of the world as ever they did, and would pursue its follies and its vanities as greedily as they had done before.
Not many years or months elapse before the worldly mother who has followed one daughter to the grave, will introduce another into the frivolous world with all the brilliancy which fashion prescribes; not long will a worldly father mourn over the death of a son before, in the whirl of business and the exciting scenes of ambition, he will show that his heart is as much wedded to the world as it ever was.
If such sorrows and disappointments conduct to the Saviour, as they sometimes do; if they lead the troubled mind to seek peace in his blood, and support in the hope of heaven, then a real victory is obtained over the world; and then, when the hand of affliction is withdrawn, it is seen that there has been a work of grace in the soul that has effectually changed all its feelings, and secured a triumph that shall be eternal.”
Jesus had more to say regarding commitment and overcoming: In His letter to the Church at Sardis in Revelation 3:5 we read: "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
One of the themes I keep returning to in the Discussions that I conduct, is the idea of familiarity with the Word of God. A phrase many of you have heard me repeat is, “Get into the Word, and get the Word into you.” This is not a platitude. I doubt you will ever open a fortune cookie and find those words written on that little strip of paper. I actually wish they would print that phrase. It would do some people who read that fortune some good, if they would heed it.
I am going to turn, now, to another ingredient of Spiritual Growth, namely, “Growing in Grace and Knowledge.”
In the Life Application Bible's introduction to the Apostle Peter's 2nd epistle, under the heading “Importance” they write: “Growth is essential. It begins with faith and culminates in love for others. To keep growing, we need to know God, keep on following Him, and remember what He taught us. We must remain diligent in faithful obedience and Christian growth.”
Jesus phrased it this way where we read in John 8:31: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed...”
Matthew Henry writes, I. A comfortable doctrine laid down concerning the spiritual liberty of Christ's disciples, intended for the encouragement of those Jews that believed. Christ, knowing that his doctrine began to work upon some of his hearers, turned his discourse from the proud Pharisees, and addressed himself to those weak believers.
When he had denounced wrath against those that were hardened in unbelief, then he spoke comfort to those few feeble Jews that believed in him. See here, 1. How graciously the Lord Jesus looks to those that tremble at his word, and are ready to receive it; he has something to say to those who have hearing ears, and will not pass by those who set themselves in his way, without speaking to them.
2. How carefully he cherishes the beginnings of grace, and meets those that are coming towards him. These Jews that believed were yet but weak; but Christ did not therefore cast them off, for he gathers the lambs in his arms. When faith is in its infancy, he has knees to prevent it, breasts for it to suck, that it may not die from the womb. In what he said to them, we have two things, which he saith to all that should at any time believe: -
(1.) The character of a true disciple of Christ: If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. When they believed on him, as the great prophet, they gave up themselves to be his disciples. Now, at their entrance into his school, he lays down this for a settled rule, that he would own none for his disciples but those that continued in his word. [1.] It is implied that there are many who profess themselves Christ's disciples who are not his disciples indeed, but only in show and name.
[2.] It highly concerns those that are not strong in faith to see to it that they be sound in the faith, that, though not disciples of the highest form, they are nevertheless disciples indeed.
[3.] Those who seem willing to be Christ's disciples ought to be told that they had as good never come to him, unless they come with a resolution by his grace to abide by him. Let those who have thoughts of covenanting with Christ have no thoughts of reserving a power of revocation. Children are sent to school, and bound apprentices, only for a few years; but those only are Christ's who are willing to be bound to him for the term of life.
[4.] Those only that continue in Christ's word shall be accepted as his disciples indeed, that adhere to his word in every instance without partiality, and abide by it to the end without apostasy. It is “to dwell” in Christ's word, as a man does at home, which is his centre, and rest, and refuge. Our converse with the word and conformity to it must be constant. If we continue disciples to the last, then, and not otherwise, we approve ourselves disciples indeed.”
To this, Alexander MacLaren adds, There are three ways in which the New Testament represents the act of believing, and its relation to its Object, Christ. These three are, first, the simple one which appears in the text as ‘believed Him.’ Then there is a second, which appears in two forms, slightly different, but which, for our purpose, may be treated as substantially the same-’believing on Him.’
And then there is a third, which, literally and accurately translated is, ‘believing unto’ or ‘into Him.’ That phrase is John’s favourite one, and rather unfortunately, though perhaps necessarily, it has been generally rendered by our translators by the less forcible ‘believing in,’ which gives the idea of repose in, but does not give the idea of motion towards.
These three, then, I think, do set forth, if we will ponder them, very large lessons as to the essence of this act of believing, as to the Object upon which it fastens, and as to the blessings which flow from it, which it will be worth our while to consider now. I may cast the whole into the shape of three exhortations: believe Him, believe on Him, believe unto Him.
I. First, then, believe Christ. We accept a man’s words when we trust the man. Even if belief, or faith, is represented in the New Testament, as it very rarely is, as having for its object the words of revelation, behind that acceptance of the words lies confidence in the person speaking.
And the beginning of all true Christian faith has in it, not merely the intellectual acceptance of certain propositions as true, but a confidence in the veracity of Him by whom they are made known to us-even Jesus Christ our Lord.
Then believe Him. Now, that breaks up into two thoughts, which are all that I intend to deduce from it now, although many more might be suggested. The one is this, that the least and the lowest that Jesus Christ asks from us is the entire and unhesitating acceptance of His utterances as final, conclusive, and absolutely true. Whatever more Jesus Christ may be, He is, by His life and words, the Communicator of divine and certain truth. He is a Teacher, though He is a great deal more.
And whatever more Christian faith may be-and it is a great deal more-it requires, at least, the frank and full recognition of the authority of every word that comes from His lips. A Christianity without a creed is a dream. But then, on the other hand, let us remember that, while all this is most clear and distinct in the teaching of Scripture, it carries us but a very short way.
When He says to them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent,’ they reply, dragging down His claim to a lower level, ‘What sign showest Thou, that we may see, and believe Thee?’ He demanded belief on Himself; they answer, ‘We are ready to believe you, on condition that we see something that may make the rendering of our belief a logical necessity for us.’
But what shall we say about a man who professes himself a disciple, and neither trembles, nor thrills, nor hopes, nor dreads, nor desires, nor does any single thing because of his creed? James... ventures upon a parallel that I should not like to venture on unless I were made bold by his example: ‘Thou believest, O vain man! thou doest well: the devils also believe, and’-better than you, in that their belief does something for them, they ‘believe-and tremble!’ Believe Jesus, but do not stop there.
II. Believe on Christ. Now, as I have remarked already, and as many of you know, there is a slightly different, twofold form of this phrase in Scripture. The first of them, and the one which we may regard as governing the others, is that found in the words of Isaiah, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a sure Foundation’; and, as the Apostle Peter comments, ‘He that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.’
All that I think, feel, desire, wish, and do, ought to be rested upon that dear Lord, and builded on Him by simple faith. By patient persistence of effort rearing up the fabric of my life firmly upon Him, and grafting every stone of it-if I might so use the metaphor-into the bedding-stone, which is Christ, I shall be strong, peaceful, and pure.
The storm comes, the waters rise, the winds howl, the hail and the rain ‘sweep away the refuge of lies,’ and the dwellers in these frail and foundationless houses are hurrying in wild confusion from one peak to another, before the steadily rising tide.
But he that builds on that Foundation ‘shall not make haste,’ as Isaiah has it; shall not need to hurry to shift his quarters before the flood overtake him; reliance on Christ, and the honest making of Him the Basis, not of our hopes only, but of our thinkings and of our doings, and of our whole being, is the secret of security, and the pledge of peace.
Then there is another form of the same phrase, ‘believing on,’ in which is suggested not so much the figure of building upon a foundation, as of some feeble man resting upon a strong stay, or clinging to an outstretched and mighty arm. The same metaphor is implied in the word ‘reliance.’
We lean upon Christ when, forsaking all other props, and realising His sufficiency and sweetness, we rest the whole weight of our weariness and all the impotence of our weakness upon His strong and unwearied arm, and so are saved. If we lean on Christ, we lean on a brazen wall and an iron pillar, and anything is possible sooner than that that stay shall give.
There is still another form of the metaphor, in which neither building upon a foundation, nor leaning upon a support which is thought of as below what rests upon it, are suggested, but rather the hanging upon something firm and secure which is above what hangs from it. The same picture is suggested by our word ‘dependence.’ ‘As a nail fastened in a sure place,’ said one of the prophets, ‘on Him shall hang all the glory of His Father’s house.’
So, brother, build on Christ, rely on Him, depend on Him, and it shall not be in vain. But if you will not build on the sure Foundation, do not wonder if the rotten one gives way. If you will not lean on the strong Stay, complain not when the weak one crumbles to dust beneath your weight.
And if you choose to swing over the profound depth at the end of a piece of pack-thread, instead of holding on by a chain wrapped round God’s throne, you must be prepared for its breaking and your being smashed to pieces below.
III. The last exhortation that comes out of this comparative study of these phrases is: Believe into Christ. True Christian faith is the flight of the soul towards Christ. Therein is one of the special blessednesses of the Christian life, that it has for its object and aim absolutely infinite and unattainable completeness and glory, so that unwearied freshness, inexhaustible buoyancy, endless progress, are the dower of every spirit that truly trusts in Christ.
All other aims and objects are limited, transient, and will be left behind. Every other landmark will sink beneath the horizon, where so many of our landmarks have sunk already, and where they will all disappear when the last moment comes. But we may have, and if we are Christian people we shall have, bright before us, sufficiently certain of being reached to make our efforts hopeful and confident... the great light and love of that dear Lord.
Oh, how such thoughts ought to shame us who call ourselves Christians! Growth, progress, getting nearer to Christ, yearning ever with a great desire after Him! And let us take our portion of shame, and remember that the faith which believes Him, and that which believes on Him, both need to be crowned and perfected by that which believes towards Him, of which the motto is, ‘Forgetting the things that are behind, I reach forward to the things that are before.’
But there is another side to this last phase of faith. That true believing towards or unto Christ is the rest of the soul in Him. By faith that deep and most real union of the believing soul with Jesus Christ is effected which may be fitly described as our entrance into and abode in Him.
The believer is as if incorporated into Him in whom he believes. Indeed, the Apostle ventures to use a more startling expression than incorporation when he says that ‘he that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit.’ If by faith we press towards, by faith we shall be in, Christ.
Faith is at once motion and rest, search and finding, desire and fruition. A rare construction of the verb to believe, with the simple preposition in, coincides with this part of the meaning of believing unto or into, and need not be separately considered. With this understanding of its meaning, we see how natural is John’s preference for this construction.
For surely, if he has anything to tell us, it is that the true Christian life is a life enclosed, as it were, in Jesus Christ. Nor need I remind you how Paul, though he starts from a different point of view, yet coincides with John in this teaching. For, to him, to be ‘in Christ’ is the sum of all blessedness, righteousness, peace, and power.
As in an atmosphere, we may dwell in Him. He may be the strong Habitation to which we may continually resort. One of the Old Testament words for trusting means taking refuge, and such a thought is naturally suggested by this New Testament form of expression. ‘I flee unto Thee to hide me.’ In that Fortress we dwell secure.
To be in Jesus, wedded to Him by the conjunction of will and desire, wedded to Him in the oneness of a believing spirit and in the obedience of a life, to be thus in Christ is the crown and climax of faith, and the condition of all perfection. To be in Christ is life; to be out of Him is death.
In Him we have redemption; in Him we have wisdom, truth, peace, righteousness, hope, confidence... We enter by faith. Faith is not the acceptance merely of His Word, but is the reliance of the soul on Him, the flight of the soul towards Him, the dwelling of the soul in Him.”
There is more to review and examine on this subject of Spiritual Growth. Next week, Lord willing, I plan to add (what looks like at the time of this writing) several more Installments to this Series even though I thought next week might be its last one. Soo... to all of you hearing or reading my words, I invite you to join me for our next Installment.
This concludes this evening's Discussion, "Spiritual Growth, Part 9."
This Discussion was originally presented “live” on March 22nd, 2023.
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