Don't Judge Your Spiritual Condition by Your Feelings by David Wilkerson | Sermon - Must Watch
Don't Judge Your Spiritual Condition by Your Feelings by David Wilkerson | Sermon
Like 👍 & Subscribe - @Ahava Jerusalem
#DavidWilkerson #condition #judge #believer #home #family #parents #children #sermon #JesusChrist #God #Faith #Hope #Love #Holy #church #Christian #ready #
The apostle Paul assured the Thessalonians that they'd learned how to walk pleasing before the Lord. He told them, "Ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God" (1 Thessalonians 4:1). Paul then added this exhortation: "So ye would abound more and more" (4:1).
To abound means to increase. Paul was saying, "You've been sitting under sound gospel preaching. So now you have a solid foundation beneath you. Therefore, you ought to be increasing in grace in all ways -- in your faith, your knowledge, your love."
Paul also spoke of such abounding to the Corinthians: "As ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also" (2 Corinthians 8:7). He said, in other words, "God's Spirit has wrought major changes in your life. Therefore, you ought to be giving more of yourself in all ways -- in your time, your finances, your talents."
These passages make it clear: everyone who's been fed God's word is expected to grow in grace. God has endowed gifts to pastors, teachers, prophets and evangelists for this express purpose: to cause his church to grow. No believer is to remain a babe in Christ. We're expected to grow in him so that we're not carried away by any false thing.
Jesus himself speaks of a constant increase in our lives: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). Christ commended the church at Thyatira for having grown in grace: "I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first" (Revelation 2:19). Jesus was saying, in essence, "You're more intense now than when you started out. You've allowed my life in you to grow more abundant."
Proverbs echoes this: "The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Proverbs 4:18). And Job declares, "The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger" (Job 17:9).
We see there is no place for sloth, laziness or stunted growth in the body of Christ. So, how do you feel about your growth in the Lord? Do you see a constant increase of faith, hope, love, giving? If so, how can you measure your growth?
Tragically, many Christians judge their spiritual growth by outward conditions. Of course, most believers claim to live by faith and not by feelings. But in everyday practice, many do measure their spiritual lives by the way they feel. And they're convinced they're not growing spiritually. They attend church regularly, hear God's word preached, read their Bibles, pray diligently. But they feel they're not making any progress. One saint told me, "I should be much more broken in the Lord. I used to weep easily before him, but now I'm not as tender-hearted anymore. I'm simply not growing."
Others judge themselves because they hear many sermons but retain little of them. They worry they're not as intense or zealous for God as they once were.
Let me share with you a few insights about our spiritual growth:
1. A Christian Can Be Growing In Grace and Not Perceive It.
You may be totally oblivious to the tremendous maturing process taking place inside you. Paul likens our spiritual growth to the growth of our bodies. He says our souls are nourished in the same way as our physical joints, muscles and fibers. He calls this being "(increased) with the increase of God" (Colossians 2:19).
More on:
https://worldchallenge.org/content/dont-judge-your-spiritual-condition-feelings
About David Wilkerson
David Wilkerson was the Founding Pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. He was called to New York in 1958 to minister to gang members and drug addicts, as told in the best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade.
In 1987, David Wilkerson returned to "the crossroads of the world" to establish Times Square Church. As a pastor of the church, he faithfully led this congregation, delivering powerful biblical messages that encourage righteous living and complete reliance on God.
David Wilkerson had a strong burden to encourage and strengthen pastors throughout the world. From 1999 to 2008, he traveled around the globe holding conferences for Christian ministers.
Posted with written permission of Time Square Church
http://www.tscnyc.org/media_center.php?pg=sermons
Copyright © 2016 Times Square Church, 1657 Broadway, New York, NY, 10019, USA. T: (212) 541-6300 F: (212) 541-6415
