Theme: Spiritual Growth

Text: 1 Timothy 4:7-8

Devotion: 1 Timothy 4:7-8

Title: Disciplines for Spiritual Growth

Introduction:
(Prayer) Good morning to everyone:
Last week, we have heard a great deal concerning spiritual growth, and, although we
only had an introduction, we nevertheless realized how important it is to grow spiritually. It is a
priority in our Christian life. A Christian who is not growing has a big problem. We have also
learned that it is not necessarily related to time, to knowledge, to activity, or even prosperity,
which are some of the misconceptions about those who are growing.

Today, our study will continue on what has been established about spiritual growth. We
will focus now on what we must do in order for us to grow spiritually. The title for our message
for today is Disciplines for spiritual growth.

We all know that the goal of spiritual growth is to be spiritually mature, to become more
Christ-like in action and in character. Again, as we have said before, this is not an easy task,
because the more you think about it, the more daunting it seems for us. But the good thing is
that the Holy Spirit Himself is the one who helps us in this task. As with regeneration (being
born again), try as we might, even if we so desired, we cannot change ourselves. We were
sinful, and our nature was to sin. It was God who changed us, and gave us a new life in Christ.
We cannot do it on our own. The same thing applies to our growth. In the end, it is God who
makes us grow. 1Cor.3:6 and while that is true, at the same time, we are still responsible to do
our duty as Christians. That is why we need these disciplines, to train ourselves, and to grow
deeper in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Exegetical Idea: Continuing our topic on spiritual growth, and how important it is to the life of a
believer, we come now to the disciplines that would help us grow in our spiritual life.

Proposition: Brothers and sisters in the Lord, in order for us to grow, we must all develop,
maintain, and continue in disciplines that will enable us to pursue growth in our lives.

I. The Basic Disciplines

As with all things, we start with the basics. Even though we associate the word basic
with the idea of a newcomer or a beginner, we will find that the basic disciplines in the
Christian life are the things that will continue to make us grow in the faith, no matter what level
of growth we are at. They are called disciplines because they are activities that are done
regularly as a way of training yourself to do something or to improve your behavior. Just like in
many sports or vocations, there are many things that you have to work on just to be able to
start. Ex. Boxing: stance, footwork, balance, speed, punching, blocking, reflexes, etc. before you
even get to fight with an opponent. These spiritual disciplines will train us and help us grow into
Christ-likeness.

A. Bible Study – 1Pet.2:2; Psalm 19:7-11

No, this is not what the pastor and workers do, but the very basic studying of the
bible. 1Pet.2:2 Included in this is bible reading and meditation. It is not enough that we
read the bible. Most often we hear of people, (maybe even ourselves) say that they
have read through the bible, a gospel, a verse, but after that, then what? Most often
people obtain such a big knowledge about the bible, and memorize a great deal of it,
but it does nothing for them for they do not understand what they are doing it for. We
study the bible not just for knowledge sake, but for our lives to be guided and changed.
Psalm 19:7-11 God has given us the truth, and this truth is available for all to see. It is
perfect, trustworthy, right, pure, clean, and true. David says it is more desirable than
gold, and sweeter than honey. (It is like a love letter addressed especially for you)
Moreover with the word of God we can discern for ourselves the things that do not
please God, it warns us of the things that would lead us to sin.

1. Read it – plan ahead, follow a schedule, get your bible

2. Reflect upon it – meditate it. Don’t stop with reading. Ask yourself “What is God
saying to me.”
3. Remember it – Memorize it. When you put the word of the Lord in your heart, it will
come to you when you need it the most. God will bring it to your remembrance.
4. Recount it – share it with others. Tell others what you have learned from God’s truth.
5. Respond to it – Simply put, do it. Do not be just a hearer, but a doer.

B. Prayer – Heb.4:16; Phil.4:6-7

Prayer is our only means of communication with God. Nothing else can reach
Him. If we understand that, then we must realize how important prayer truly is. God
speaks to us through His word, and we speak to Him through our prayers. It is in prayer
a believer can find mercy and grace to help. Heb.4:16 It is through prayer that we can
find peace that surpasses all understanding to guard our hearts. Phil.4:6-7 not because
of some mystical act or supernatural thing that occurs when we pray, but because when
we pray, we are always reminded of “to who are we praying to”. That is why those who
pray know God, those who pray trust in God, and those who pray rely and believe that
God is in control, and He is watching over us. F.B. Meyer said: “The great tragedy of life
is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer." Paul understood prayer and its power.
Prayer was an undeniable part of his life, and if you read through the portions of
scripture which God used him to write, you will find that over and over and over again
he calls all Christians to pray. In Col.4:2-4

1. Pray persistently – we are to pray without ceasing

2. Pray gratefully – we are to pray with thanksgiving
3. Pray selflessly – we are to pray for others
C. Fellowship & Assembly – Heb.10:24-25;
This not just refers to the idea of coming together and partaking in an activity.
Not just eating bread and drinking coffee, or playing games. In the Christian sense,
fellowship is our being together, because Jesus has saved us. The bible says that we are
part of the body of Christ. We have been united with Christ, and in turn, have been
united with one another. We have fellowship with one another, because Christ is the
common denominator. That is why when we understand this, the Christian life is not a
life of solitude. We have been given many brothers and sisters in the Lord. So one
question that hangs is why? What is the purpose of fellowship? The purpose put by God
in fellowship is for us to grow. we exhort one another. We encourage one another. We
rebuke one another. Heb.10:24-25 having fellowship with one another stimulates us to
love and good works. Neglecting this hinders our growth, and opens us up to the many
attacks of the enemy, and the many deceptions of the world.

1. Regularly attend the services

2. Exhort and encourage one another in truth and love
3. Discover where God is leading you for service

D. Evangelism – Matt.28:18-20; Luke 9:26

Many people are allergic to this word for different reasons. None of them of
course are actually valid. Some will say that evangelism is the work of the church. And I
agree. But who is the church? Just the pastor? The workers? No. Every one of us who
believed in God are Christians. Matt.28:18-20 we are the church. And evangelism is a
discipline for every Christian. Simply put: evangelism is proclaiming the gospel. Sharing
the good news. Telling others about who Jesus is and what He has done for mankind.
Easy and simple right? It would be much more difficult to talk about, say, for example,
how a computer works, how does it connect to the internet. What is LAN, client and
server, peer to peer, access points Etc. So why do many Christians avoid evangelism? For
the most part, it has to do with fear. Fear of rejection, of humiliation, of being
ostracized. But most of these fears have to do with our excuses. Excuses never end. But
if we really desire to grow, then evangelism is a must in our lives. So what if we get
rejected? They are not rejecting us, they are rejecting God, and His offer of life. So what
if they humiliate us? We have all been humiliated for far dumber and lesser things. So
what if we get excluded? Remember Jesus words in Luke 9:26 I would rather be
excluded from the friendship of men rather than the friendship of God.

1. We share the good news because we have been commanded

2. We share the good news because God’s love motivates us
3. We share the good news because God has given us the task of helping others

E. Stewardship – Eph.5:15-16; Luke 16:10-13 (matt.25:14-30)

Stewardship actually encompasses every aspect of our life, but for simplicity sake
I will focus on two major things. Namely time and money. In Eph.5:15-16 Paul reminds
the believers to watch carefully how they are living, and to make proper use of their
 time. While in Luke16:10-13 Jesus is saying that if we cannot be trusted with something
as temporal and fleeting as money, He is not going to trust us with the truly valuable
things of the Spirit. If we have not proven faithful with little, we will never be entrusted
with much. If we are not faithful with that which belongs to someone else, who will give
us something of our own? Then Jesus tells us that you cannot serve two masters, you
cannot serve both God and money. Now we may not all be equal in terms of financial
standing, but we all know that all of us have been given equal amounts of time. you and
I live the same 86,400 seconds day by day. And God is watching us how we spend our
time. Our time is limited. How do we spend it? How about our finances? If we believe
that God is the owner of everything, then it follows that He is owner of all our physical
wealth and material wealth. How can we surrender our life to God if we can’t even
surrender our wallet? Then we finally understand why Paul says God loves a cheerful
giver. 2Cor.9:7 how much I give shows how big my faith is in God.

1. Assess your expenditures

2. Set your goals
3. Exercise your faith

Application:
Brothers and sisters in the Lord, although a little overwhelming, what we have just
discussed are the basics in the disciplines for spiritual growth. But these basic things are the
very important things in our spiritual growth. It is important for a new Christian, it is important
for a Christian of 2 years, of ten years, of 20 years. It is important for the rest of our lives. We
need to develop these disciplines because of all the trash and garbage that has been stored in
our minds and hearts for so many years. We need to replace these things that are from the
flesh and the world, with the things that are from God. There is no other way to this but to do
it. (kung ayaw mong gawin ang mga bagay na ito dahil hindi ka marunong, gawin mo para
matuto ka. Kung di mo magawa ito dahil wala kang gana, gawin mo ito para magka gana ka) the
only way to grow is to do our duty, and practice these disciplines.
The truth is that, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue to read it, and the way to
obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying. The less we read the Word of God, the less we
desire to read it, and the less we pray, the less we desire to pray." – George Muller

II. The importance of these disciplines

A. Spiritual Growth requires effort

Even though we know that it is God who gives us growth, we still have the
human responsibility of doing the things that will make us grow. It takes some effort on
our part. All of us begin the growth process as babies. But all of us have to start
somewhere in order for us to grow. Ask any mature Christian, and he/she will tell you
that the words Bible study, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, and stewardship were all
once foreign to their understanding and thinking. But when we became Christians. That
is where they all started. And with patience, anyone of us can become mature in the
faith, and become more Christ-like. If you are a new Christian and have not yet done the
 things we have mentioned in the message, start today! Nothing is hindering you and
your spiritual growth. As you develop these disciplines, you will realize just how
important these things are. And for use old Christians, may what we have heard give us
a reminder of the things that we should still be doing. Nothing is sadder than seeing an
old Christian who is not growing. And almost always, you can trace the lack of growth to
a lack of effort in the spiritual disciplines we have studied.

B. Spiritual growth requires the right habits

As we said before, all of us have many left over trash from our previous life
before as enemies of God. We were all living in the flesh, we all followed our earthly
desires, and we all said and did what pleased ourselves. But now, God has changed us,
He gave us new life. We were all born again in the spirit. But now that we are children of
God, what do we do? That is why many new Christians are in the danger of falling away.
Because they do not know what to do next after salvation. Like the different types of
soil in the parable of the sower. After receiving the word of God with great joy, because
they were not well founded, when trials and problems come, they wither away at once.
Or when they heard the word of God, but was choked by the cares and riches of the
world. Without the right habits in the Christian life, we are in danger of not having a
strong faith, a strong foundation, and can easily be deceived and carried away by
various cares and ideologies of the world. 1 Tim.4:7-8

Conclusion:
For my conclusion, brothers and sisters in the Lord, if we are to grow as Christians, we
must keep in mind the basic discplines that enable us to grow. We do not stop at salvation, nor
do we remain stagnant after being born again. We should continue to grow, and these
disciplines remain the same for all of us, whether new or old. Start simple, start slowly, but the
bottom line remains: we should start growing, and we should never stop growing. To God be
the Glory.