Spiritual Growth (Part 3)

Jesus told a parable about growth in Matthew 13:1-9.  He explained the parable in Matthew 13:18-23.  In this parable, the seed represents the Word of God.  God has promised when we plant His Word, it is not done in vain:

Isaiah 55:11 "So shall my Word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Jeremiah 1:12 "...For I will hasten my Word to perform it."

It is the Word of God that brings change in the lives of men and women.  That change results in growth based on the Word of God.

In the final message of Jesus to His disciples He said:

Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

The power of the Holy Spirit enables spiritual growth.  The gifts of the Holy Spirit equip for that growth  The fruit of the Holy Spirit causes reproduction.  


In the early church, the spread of the Gospel was not left to the full-time pastors, prophets, evangelists, and teachers.  Every New Testament believer was spiritually reproductive.  If we are to reach the world with the Gospel today then we must return to this strategy of the early church.  Both leaders and laymen must share the responsibility for spiritual growth.  Our world's population requires a return to the New Testament plan of ministry by each member of the Body of Christ because we cannot reach the world through token efforts and half-hearted dedication.

There are enough Christians in the world that the entire world could easily be reached with the Gospel.  There lacks only a sufficient number of inspired people to recognize and respond to the opportunity for spiritual growth. In order to "GROW" we must "GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE."  

The command given by Jesus to believers is to "go" into all the world with His gospel message of deliverance.  You do not have to wait for the command to "go" because it already has been given.  In relation to the spread of the Gospel, the command is to "go" and watch for the stops, not stop and wait for the "go."  

 The Bible speaks of four types of church growth accomplished through spiritual growth:

1. Geographic growth was predicted by the Lord Jesus:

Again, Acts 1:8 says, "But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:  and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost  part of the earth."

Growth was to extend geographically throughout the nations of the world.

2. The church would experience numeric growth as it grew geographically. 

Numeric growth of the first church is recorded in the book of Acts.  For example, the church had increased from 12 to 120 in Acts 1:15; to 3,000 in Acts 2:41; and to 5,000 in Acts 4:4.

3. The early church experienced ethnic growth also. 

The Gospel was extended beyond the Jews to include Gentiles or people of all nations.

4. Internal spiritual growth is also important.  

Followers of Jesus must grow in spiritual quality as well as quantity:

2 Peter 3:18 "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ..."

God's desire according to Ephesians 4:15 is about:

"Speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."

 Again, if you want to grow, you've got to go!