The Apostle John knows that this message to his congregation is going to be tough. He has some hard things to say. In the vocabulary of our day, he has some politically incorrect things to say. They will not be easy to hear. Truth is sometimes hard to listen to. However, he wants to assure them, that in spite of the hard things he needs to say, that he loves these people dearly, and wants to encourage them in their faith.

The epistle was written with four primary intentions:

To show believers how their joy in this life may be full.
To guard them against sin.
To warn them about false teachers.
To give them an assurance of their salvation.

It’s very easy to see that the audience of this sermon; though they were all believers, are in different stages of spiritual maturity. Some he calls “fathers,” some he calls “young men” and still others he refers to as “children”. These are not necessarily specific age groups, the Apostle is referring to, but levels of spiritual maturity.

This morning, I’d like to walk you through those three identifications and talk to you about levels of spiritual growth. But first, let me acquaint you with five misconceptions about spiritual growth.

I. MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT SPIRITUAL GROWTH

the God who gave us spiritual life in Christ intends for that life to grow into spiritual maturity

He intends for us to grow into the fullness of the stature of Christ

the goal of spiritual growth is to become more and more like Jesus

the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Philippian Christians makes this clear

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13–14, NIV84)

what is the goal we are straining toward ?
it is the prize for which God has called me heavenward
it is our total conformation to the character of Christ Jesus

the Apostle John totally concurs with this

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:6, NIV84)

each of us here this morning who names the name of Christ are to be busy about the task of growing in our faith

the biblical term for this is sanctification and it must be progressive—that is, it must be on-going
there are, however, some misconceptions about spiritual growth that I want to quickly deal with

A. MISCONCEPTION #1—Spiritual Growth Has Nothing to Do with Your Standing Before God in Christ

your standing before God was settled when you put your trust in Jesus, who is the Christ

it is the righteousness of Christ that covers you and allows you to stand before a holy God, totally justified

“What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” (Philippians 3:8–9, NIV84)

that standing never changes regardless of how immature you remain in the faith or how mature you become in the faith

B. MISCONCEPTION #2—Spiritual Growth Has Nothing to Do with God’s Love for You

God doesn’t love you more or like you better if you’re mature in the faith

“It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.” (John 13:1, NIV84)

the scene is the Upper Room on the night of our Lord’s last Passover with his disciples

the picture painted of the disciples is not a pretty one
on this solemn occasion we find them arguing again about which of them will be the greatest in the Kingdom
they were proud, they were immature, and they were doubters

yet, Jesus loved them with the full extent of his love

Jesus loves us with a perfect love

he cannot love us more because we are more mature
he cannot love us less because we are less mature

Jesus loves his sheep with the full extent of his love

C. MISCONCEPTION #3—Spiritual Growth Has Nothing to Do with Time

spiritual growth is not measured by the calendar

unfortunately, there are people who have been Christians for a very long time who are woefully immature in their spiritual lives
the Apostle Paul, in writing to the Christians at Cornith, had to admonish them for their immaturity

“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. ... “ (1 Corinthians 3:1–3, NIV84)

these were believers who should have matured beyond their spiritual infancy
but they hadn’t because they were caught up in jealousy, factionalism, and worldliness

on the other hand, some believers will so fall in love with Jesus, that in a very short period of time they reach a spiritual maturity that many long-time believers lack

D. MISCONCEPTION #4—Spiritual Growth Is Not Related to Knowledge

growing in the faith does not—I repeat, does not—proceed from an accumulation of biblical information

you can have a Ph.D. in biblical studies or systematic theology and be stunningly immature in the faith
in fact, the more biblical information you receive and don’t apply, the more deceived you are about your true state of immaturity

growing in the faith does—I repeat, does—proceed from the application of biblical information

ILLUS. In 2011 about forty-five members of this congregation committed themselves to reading through the Bible in one year. Praise God. I commend you for doing that. Believers need to periodically read through the Bible. However, when it comes to your spiritual growth, I would encourage you to take one Bible verse a week and meditate on that verse for a period of time every day with particular emphasis on applying that verse to your life.

growing in the faith proceeds from the application of biblical truth to our lives

E. MISCONCEPTION #5—Spiritual Growth Is Not Related to Churchy Activity

do I believe that believers ought to be in Church for every service of the Church?

absolutely!

do I believe that attending every service of the Church means you are spiritually mature in the faith?

absolutely not!

but let me quickly add that the odds of growing in your faith are greater when you regularly expose yourself to bible study, worship, preaching, fellowship and prayer then if you do not
these, then are some of the misconceptions about spiritual growth

now then, let’s move on to ...

II. MILESTONES OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH

ILLUS. We don’t use milestones in our culture any more, but we do use milage markers. Milestones are constructed to provide reference points along the road. This can be used to reassure travelers that the proper path is being followed, and to indicate either distance traveled or the remaining distance to a destination. Likewise, there are spiritual milestones in the Christian life that we need to be watching for. In this passage, the Apostle mentions three of them. The milestone of childhood, the milestone of youth, and the milestone of maturity.

the Apostle John writes to encourage his congregation in their faith

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13, NIV84)

he didn’t write this epistle to make us doubt

the Apostle John begins by acknowledging his hearer’s relationship with Christ

“I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.” (1 John 2:12, NIV84)

the word children in verse 12 is the same word he uses in verse 1 of the second chapter, and means little born ones

I think the Apostle John is here referring to all believers, regardless of their age or their spiritual maturity

they—and we—are believers because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name

that name, of course, is Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith
this is where every believer’s spiritual journey begins—a commitment of heart and mind, and body and soul to the Lord, Jesus Christ

so one thing is true of all believers wherever they are in their spiritual growth plain

all believers have all their sins forgiven

however, in this passage, the Apostle John indicates that there are indeed degrees or mileposts of maturity

“I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.” (1 John 2:13, NIV84)

he refers to “fathers”—those who are mature in the faith
he refers to “young men”—those who are maturing in the faith
he refers to “children”—those who are immature in the faith

A. “LITTLE CHILDREN”—THE FIRST LEVEL OF GROWTH

there is an important difference in v. 13 that is very important and does not come through in our English translations

the Apostle John uses a different word for children in verse 13 then he does in verse 12

the world children in this case means immature little folk and refers to what we would call preschoolers

these are ones who know that they are children of God, but that’s about all they know

they can sing, Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so and fully understand it and appreciate that truth
but Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art: Thou my best thought by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light remains a mystery to them

who here remembers their childhood?

“Oh to be a kid again” we sometimes hear ourselves saying
for many it is such an incredible time

it is usually a carefree time
children are often oblivious to what is going on around them—just taking in the moment!

isn’t that how it was when we first came to Christ?

you’ve been born again, you’re a new Creation in Christ, you now have this NEW relationship with God—the weight and burden of your sins were lifted—and you felt like you didn’t have a care in this world!

it’s a time of excitement and rejoicing!
there is a joy that God is your Father, and Christ is your Savior

then it happens!

we begin our walk with Christ—we start to grow in our understanding—and things get a little tougher!
we find out that, though God forgave our sins and brought us into His family, we still struggle with our flesh and find ourselves falling into old habits and yielding to old temptations

we realize that there is more to this thing called being a Christian than we first understood

it is about making Jesus Christ the “LORD” of our lives—every part of our lives

This Is Typically Where Many Believers Stall Out!

though they may faithfully attend church every Sunday ...
though may help here and there with various projects ...
they never really continue the growth process in their lives

is this the spiritual plain your on?

B. “YOUNG MEN”—THE SECOND LEVEL OF GROWTH

here is the Christian who has begun to mature in their spiritual growth

the Apostle John tells us what these young men are known for spiritually—they have overcome the wicked one
the wicked one is Satan, the Devil (Our Adversary), the accuser of the brethren, the tempter, the god of this world

and he has been defeated in the lives of these spiritual adolescents

they have grown to the point where they are not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21)

these spiritual adolescents, the Apostle writes, are strong—meaning they are spiritually powerful
they are spiritually powerful because they

the Word of God abides in them
because the Word of God abides in them they have overcome the evil one

here, I believe is the transition point between being a spiritual child vs. becoming a spiritual adolescent—you gain an appreciation for how important the Scriptures are to your life

Satan is a master deceiver

many saved people believe and do wrong things in sincerity, thinking they are right
but a maturing believer is not so easily deceived because he or she knows the Word of God

the chief characteristic of spiritual children is ignorance of biblical truth
the chief characteristic of spiritual adolescents is knowledge of essential biblical truth

we can win the war against our adversary

we can be victorious in our battle for spiritual growth, if we will listen to what God is saying to us and get to know Him more intimately in His Word

is this the spiritual plain your on?

C. “FATHERS”—THE THIRD LEVEL OF GROWTH

“fathers” are the saints who have known the Lord Jesus for many years and have grown and matured

John says of these men ye have known him that is from the beginning

in fact, he says this of them twice

the implication is that these are believers who have a deep, intimate knowledge of the Lord, Jesus Christ

they know him as the Apostle had come to know him

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” (Philippians 3:10, NIV84)

these spiritual fathers were believers who were mature, wise, understanding, strong in their faith and relationship with God

they had learned the secret of walking to please God

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1, ESV)

the third stage of spiritual growth takes place when you get to know the God who is behind the Scriptures

knowing the Scriptures is about more than knowing truth and discovering principles for daily living
knowing the Scriptures becomes about knowing the God who gave us the truth and the principles

you begin to plumb the depths of the character of God

this is the path the Apostle John wants his congregation to be on

I don’t ask you to pray many prayers with me, but as I close this sermon this morning, let me encourage you to pray after me these thoughts: Father, thank you for calling me to be one of you little born-again ones ... Thank you for the forgiveness of all my sins, even the ones I’ve yet to commit ... Father, I pray that I might grow in the knowledge of your Word ... I pray that your Word, that indwells my heart and mind, will give me power over the wicked one. Father in Heaven ... make me more like your Son, Jesus ... by your grace grow me up that I become a spiritual father ... by your grace may I attain to the fullness of Christ ... may I continually be conformed to his image ... Father, make me one through whom you establish your Kingdom on earth.

Politically Incorrect Christianity: Living the Truth--“I Write to You”