Spiritual Growth (Part 2)

Spiritual increase cannot be accomplished apart from God.  It is God who gives growth.

There are principles in God's Word which are applicable to every area of life and ministry. God works through men who know how to cooperate with these principles.  From the beginning of the world, God has worked on the earth through man.  He gave Adam and Eve the task of keeping the garden.  He used a man named Noah to preserve life on the earth during the flood.

God raised up Abraham to found the nation of Israel through which He would reveal Himself to the nations of the world.  God also used prophets, kings, and judges to accomplish His plan in Old Testament times. 

In the New Testament, a man named John the Baptist "prepared the way for the Lord."  Jesus began His ministry with common men and when He returned to Heaven He left the destiny of the Gospel in the hands of these same men. The whole Biblical record is one of man cooperating with the principles of God to achieve the purposes of God.  

This is true in spiritual growth.  God does not bypass man to spread the Gospel.  He uses men and women who understand and cooperate with His principles of spiritual growth.  Paul summarized this cooperative relationship: 

1 Corinthians 3:6 "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave  the increase. "

Paul stressed the urgency for believers to fulfill their responsibility in the plan of God:

Romans 10:13, 14 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  and how shall they hear without a preacher?" 


Jesus said in John 12:32:

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Jesus was speaking here of His "lifting up" on the cross to die for the sins of all mankind.  Through His death, He would draw all men through the power of the Gospel.  When you share the Gospel message, Jesus is lifted up.  When He is lifted up in your life and your church, people are changed by the power of the Gospel message they see in you. 

Spiritual growth is guaranteed when Jesus is lifted up. It may not come as quickly as you expect it, but as you grow in the Spirit, blessings will begin to flow. As they flow through you others will see and know the anointing of God on your life. It is that anointing that can bring the growth that God wants in you and your church.